Heritage Investors Management Corp Trims Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Heritage Investors Management Corp reduced its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 390,408 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 714 shares during the period. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in Comcast were worth $14,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $345,565,000 after purchasing an additional 8,258,128 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after buying an additional 6,062,658 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Comcast by 530.5% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $143,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,885,370 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 31.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $318,036,000 after acquiring an additional 1,833,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,717,762 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMCSA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank cut shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Macquarie decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.10 on Thursday. 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 has a market capitalization of $132.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.52.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted 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 net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.