Katamaran Capital LLP Buys Shares of 26,730 Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Katamaran Capital LLP purchased a new position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 26,730 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,003,000. Comcast accounts for 1.3% of Katamaran Capital LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $3,835,226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,212,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,272 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,270,186 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Comcast by 2.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 838,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Comcast by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,725,355 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $927,943,000 after purchasing an additional 158,639 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Stock Down 6.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $33.38 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.87. The stock has a market cap of $126.21 billion, a PE ratio of 8.04, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. Equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CMCSA. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. StockNews.com raised Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank lowered Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.08.

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.