Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Has $15.59 Million Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 415,296 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 11,824 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Comcast were worth $15,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 269.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Performance

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

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. On average, analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CMCSA. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.64.

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.