KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Raises Holdings in Comcast Corporation $CMCSA

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its stake in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,971,906 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 324,800 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Comcast were worth $58,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Comcast by 9.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,536,937 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $236,810,000 after purchasing an additional 665,635 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 75.3% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 340,764 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $10,707,000 after purchasing an additional 146,339 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd boosted its position in Comcast by 1.0% during the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 11,327,445 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $355,908,000 after purchasing an additional 113,461 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in Comcast by 3.5% during the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 952,154 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $29,917,000 after purchasing an additional 32,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 29.5% during the third quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 177,365 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,573,000 after purchasing an additional 40,360 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other Comcast news, CEO Michael J. Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total transaction of $1,892,549.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 622,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,325,493.76. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $29.05 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.09. Comcast Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.75 and a 12 month high of $36.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.41, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The cable giant reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.09. Comcast had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 16.17%.The business had revenue of $32.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Comcast Corporation will post 3.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CMCSA. Wall Street Zen upgraded Comcast to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Barclays set a $28.00 price target on Comcast and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Comcast from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Comcast from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Comcast from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.81.

Comcast Company Profile

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is a diversified global media and technology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal operations are organized around Comcast Cable, which provides broadband internet, video, voice and wireless services to residential and business customers in the United States under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands, and NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment group that develops, produces and distributes content across broadcast and cable networks, film, and streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal’s assets include the NBC broadcast network, a portfolio of cable channels, Universal Pictures and other film and television production businesses, and the Peacock streaming service.