Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $755.19 Million Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 23.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,123,083 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 6,186,412 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.53% of Comcast worth $755,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CMCSA. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank downgraded 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.64.

Comcast Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $36.62 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.99. 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 stock has a market cap of $138.46 billion, a PE ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 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%. Research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

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.