Choate Investment Advisors Grows Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Choate Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,179 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Comcast were worth $1,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Taurus Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 54.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Five Oceans Advisors raised its stake in Comcast by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 12,336 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on CMCSA shares. Macquarie reduced their price objective on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $35.43 on Monday. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.31. The company has a market capitalization of $133.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.54, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.19. 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 (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. Sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 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.