Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 2,212,736 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,790,404 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 2,212,736 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 1.16% of Comcast worth $1,643,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 269.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Performance

Comcast stock opened at $34.20 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $32.20 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The company's 50-day moving average price is $35.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.20. The company has a market cap of $129.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. This is a positive change from Comcast's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast's payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Macquarie cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on Comcast in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.50.

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.

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