Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,969 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 17,725 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Comcast by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 38,905 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 4,974 shares during the last quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC now owns 7,712 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares during the period. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 83,386 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,129,000 after buying an additional 8,682 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. United Bank now owns 42,810 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,161 shares during the period. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 6,319,973 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $237,189,000 after buying an additional 1,606,593 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America cut Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas upgraded Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.64.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $36.62 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.46 billion, a PE ratio of 8.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $35.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Comcast’s 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.