Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Stock Position Raised by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,006,272 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.27% of Comcast worth $3,212,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 269.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $36.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $45.31. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.98. The company has a market capitalization of $139.52 billion, a PE ratio of 8.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is 31.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CMCSA. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark cut their target price on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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 lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Ten 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.