Capital World Investors Purchases 11,255,683 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant's stock after purchasing an additional 11,255,683 shares during the period. Comcast accounts for approximately 0.8% of Capital World Investors' portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Capital World Investors owned 3.75% of Comcast worth $5,317,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $3,835,226,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $743,681,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $895,499,000 after purchasing an additional 14,369,056 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares during the period. Finally, Dodge & Cox raised its stake in Comcast by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 79,102,667 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $2,968,723,000 after acquiring an additional 5,039,823 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA opened at $33.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $128.40 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.32. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.20 and a 1 year high of $45.31.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. Research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. This is an increase from Comcast's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMCSA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Comcast from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.50.

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.

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