Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Reduces Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,820,431 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 63,876 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.28% of Comcast worth $406,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 904.0% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after buying an additional 229,192 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,161,000 after acquiring an additional 22,684 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $80,232,000 after purchasing an additional 68,139 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $92,331,000 after purchasing an additional 15,807 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,541,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $34.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $131.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.31, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $38.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.93.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 29.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CMCSA. Bank of America cut Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.