Invesco Ltd. Grows Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,175,969 shares of the cable giant's stock after purchasing an additional 4,669,069 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.19% of Comcast worth $1,695,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 678,694 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $25,471,000 after purchasing an additional 2,652 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 465,000 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $17,451,000 after buying an additional 111,500 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,695,517 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $213,562,000 after buying an additional 775,826 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $778,000. Finally, Payden & Rygel lifted its holdings in Comcast by 627.3% in the fourth quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 215,070 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $8,072,000 after acquiring an additional 185,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $33.72. The company had a trading volume of 26,797,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,735,894. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.20 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $127.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.56 and a 200-day moving average of $38.56.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last issued its 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. Comcast's payout ratio is 31.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays cut their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America cut Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.90.

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.