State of Michigan Retirement System Grows Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,106,289 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 54,200 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Comcast were worth $41,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Comcast by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,871,235 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,331,192,000 after purchasing an additional 416,759 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 30,364,136 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,268,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,717,762 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $667,620,000 after buying an additional 822,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 14,918,501 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $623,146,000 after buying an additional 676,920 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

Comcast stock opened at $35.98 on Tuesday. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $136.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.67, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.28 and a 200-day moving average of $39.45.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 31.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. BNP Paribas raised Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

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.