A&I Financial Services LLC Acquires Shares of 5,751 Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

A&I Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,751 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,904,647,000 after buying an additional 6,062,658 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,871,235 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,331,192,000 after buying an additional 416,759 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised 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 worth $1,268,310,000 after buying an additional 1,717,762 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $667,620,000 after buying an additional 822,936 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.8% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 14,918,501 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $623,146,000 after buying an additional 676,920 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Finally, Scotiabank cut Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Comcast Stock Up 0.8 %

Comcast stock opened at $35.39 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 stock has a market capitalization of $133.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $36.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.49.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.81%.

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.