Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Position Cut by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,824,178 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 27,279 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Comcast were worth $68,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 5.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,871,235 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,331,192,000 after acquiring an additional 416,759 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 6.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 30,364,136 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,268,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,717,762 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its stake in Comcast by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $667,620,000 after purchasing an additional 822,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 14,918,501 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $623,146,000 after purchasing an additional 676,920 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on CMCSA shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Comcast Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $36.48 on Thursday. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-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 market capitalization of $137.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $36.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.62.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other Comcast news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.