Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,716,573 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 80,273 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $177,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 904.0% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 752.8% in the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,129,000 after purchasing an additional 73,590 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its stake in Comcast by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 43,509 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 3,344 shares during the period. Robinson Value Management Ltd. increased its stake in Comcast by 136.7% in the 4th quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,842,000 after purchasing an additional 59,107 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,161,000 after buying an additional 22,684 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Trading Down 1.3 %

Comcast stock opened at $35.50 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.42. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The company has a market capitalization of $134.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, 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 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.