PGGM Investments Trims Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

PGGM Investments reduced its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 499,611 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 53,536 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Comcast were worth $18,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 351,998 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $13,210,000 after acquiring an additional 102,087 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in Comcast by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 950,442 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $35,528,000 after purchasing an additional 141,819 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in Comcast by 52.8% in the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 101,859 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,858,000 after purchasing an additional 35,212 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in Comcast by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 201,530 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Comcast by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 389,177 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $14,606,000 after buying an additional 149,704 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.05 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.26. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted 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 analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank cut Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America downgraded 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. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

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.