Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC cut its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 35.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,653 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 10,913 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 904.0% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $10,632,000 after buying an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $743,681,000. Bfsg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 752.8% in the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,129,000 after purchasing an additional 73,590 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 8.3% during 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. Finally, Robinson Value Management Ltd. lifted its position in Comcast by 136.7% during the fourth quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,842,000 after buying an additional 59,107 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CMCSA. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Ten equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.64.

Comcast Stock Down 0.3 %

CMCSA stock opened at $36.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $138.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.94. 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 released 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 net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio 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.