Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Purchased by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 543,863 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 9,385 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $20,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $743,681,000. Amundi lifted its position in Comcast by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $895,499,000 after acquiring an additional 14,369,056 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Comcast by 55,334.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $345,565,000 after acquiring an additional 8,258,128 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 5.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Comcast by 530.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $143,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885,370 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $35.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.16. The firm has a market cap of $135.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 target price on Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

Comcast Company Profile

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.