Legal & General Group Plc Sells 6,358,645 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 20.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,450,324 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 6,358,645 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Comcast were worth $917,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,835,226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,212,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,272 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,175,969 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,695,454,000 after purchasing an additional 4,669,069 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in Comcast by 7.1% in 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 during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Comcast by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 32,709,601 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,227,591,000 after purchasing an additional 838,366 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark cut their target price on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.08.

Comcast Stock Down 6.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $33.38 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.87. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The company has a market cap of $126.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. 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 (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.