Live Oak Investment Partners Increases Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Live Oak Investment Partners lifted its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,786 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Live Oak Investment Partners’ holdings in Comcast were worth $1,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Taurus Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Arvest Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 27,211 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,137,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 14.8% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.5% during the third quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,060 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $796,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 54.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America cut Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

Comcast Stock Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.42. The firm has a market cap of $134.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.81%.

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.