Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Makes New Investment in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 177,380 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $6,657,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 34,101,077 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,279,813,000 after buying an additional 2,270,186 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Comcast by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 32,709,601 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,227,591,000 after buying an additional 838,366 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 6.0% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 1,717,762 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in shares of Comcast by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $895,499,000 after acquiring an additional 14,369,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at $743,681,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on Comcast in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.64.

Comcast Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $37.37 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.02. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $45.31. 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 $141.30 billion, a PE ratio of 9.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.81%.

Comcast Profile

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.