Norinchukin Bank The Purchases 16,331 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Norinchukin Bank The increased its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 210,813 shares of the cable giant's stock after acquiring an additional 16,331 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The's holdings in Comcast were worth $7,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CMCSA. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 909,507 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $34,134,000 after purchasing an additional 409,918 shares during the period. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC raised its position in Comcast by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 15,539 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Inc. CA lifted its holdings in Comcast by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 1,057,986 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $39,706,000 after buying an additional 290,617 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Comcast by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $5,317,167,000 after acquiring an additional 11,255,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC increased its position in Comcast by 44.7% during the 4th quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 325,403 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $12,212,000 after purchasing an additional 100,486 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup cut their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark lowered their target price on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie cut their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.50.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA opened at $33.96 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.20 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.51 and a 200 day moving average of $38.32. 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 firm has a market cap of $128.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.18, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last released its 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%. On average, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

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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