California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 406,443 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,639,495 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 406,443 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.25% of Comcast worth $361,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 17,937,001 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $673,176,000 after buying an additional 472,659 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in Comcast by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,409,429 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $90,426,000 after acquiring an additional 547,280 shares in the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 9,798 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the period. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,709,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp bought a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of CMCSA opened at $36.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.99.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is 31.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.64.

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.