First Eagle Investment Management LLC Buys 2,270,186 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,101,077 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,270,186 shares during the period. Comcast accounts for about 2.9% of First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,279,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $743,681,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Comcast by 55,334.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $345,565,000 after purchasing an additional 8,258,128 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Comcast by 530.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $143,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885,370 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lowered shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $34.70 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $131.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.36, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.23.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

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.