Econ Financial Services Corp Invests $2.94 Million in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Econ Financial Services Corp bought a new stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 78,450 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $2,944,000. Comcast makes up 1.7% of Econ Financial Services Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CMCSA. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 5.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,904,647,000 after acquiring an additional 6,062,658 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,871,235 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,331,192,000 after purchasing an additional 416,759 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 30,364,136 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,268,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717,762 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $667,620,000 after purchasing an additional 822,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.8% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 14,918,501 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $623,146,000 after purchasing an additional 676,920 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Comcast Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $33.55 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.22 and a 200 day moving average of $39.97. The stock has a market cap of $128.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 29.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation operates as a media and technology company worldwide. It operates through Residential Connectivity & Platforms, Business Services Connectivity, Media, Studios, and Theme Parks segments. The Residential Connectivity & Platforms segment provides residential broadband and wireless connectivity services, residential and business video services, sky-branded entertainment television networks, and advertising.