Whalerock Point Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Whalerock Point Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 17.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,677 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 6,149 shares during the quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Comcast by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,317,167,000 after buying an additional 11,255,683 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $3,835,226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,212,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,272 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 79,102,667 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,968,723,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,823 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,175,969 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,695,454,000 after acquiring an additional 4,669,069 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Performance

Comcast stock opened at $33.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $128.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.05. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $31.44 and a 12-month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The cable giant reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.82 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. On average, research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CMCSA. StockNews.com raised Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. 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 note on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie reduced their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $37.00 target price on Comcast in a research report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.98.

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.