California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 406,443 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,639,495 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 406,443 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Comcast were worth $361,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at $3,835,226,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 34,101,077 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,279,813,000 after purchasing an additional 2,270,186 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Comcast by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 32,709,601 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,227,591,000 after buying an additional 838,366 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $895,499,000 after buying an additional 14,369,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $743,681,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.62 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $138.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.99.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie decreased their target price on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.64.

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.