Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Purchases 77,500 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,468,859 shares of the cable giant's stock after acquiring an additional 77,500 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.09% of Comcast worth $130,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC grew its position in Comcast by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 63,695 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $2,382,000 after purchasing an additional 3,273 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 120,233 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $4,512,000 after buying an additional 7,594 shares during the period. Quantessence Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at $692,000. Alta Advisers Ltd increased its position in shares of Comcast by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 12,657 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Investment Services LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth $280,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA opened at $34.20 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $35.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.20. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $32.20 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The company has a market cap of $129.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.24, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This is an increase from Comcast's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CMCSA. Macquarie cut their price objective on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.50.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CMCSA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.