Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 3,260,740 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership cut its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,400,475 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 3,260,740 shares during the quarter. Comcast makes up about 0.7% of Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.65% of Comcast worth $915,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CMCSA. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 54.8% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Five Oceans Advisors grew its position in Comcast by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 12,336 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 26,470 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $993,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CMCSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.64.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $36.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $138.46 billion, a PE ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.99. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. Analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.81%.

Comcast 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.