Intech Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 55.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 709,402 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 884,916 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $26,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Comcast by 904.0% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $10,632,000 after acquiring an additional 229,192 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at about $743,681,000. Bfsg LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 752.8% in the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,129,000 after buying an additional 73,590 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in Comcast by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 43,509 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 3,344 shares during the period. Finally, Robinson Value Management Ltd. grew its position in Comcast by 136.7% during the 4th quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,842,000 after acquiring an additional 59,107 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $35.75 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $35.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.61, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 3.69%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark cut their price objective on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lowered Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

Comcast Company 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.