PGGM Investments Cuts Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

PGGM Investments lessened its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 499,611 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 53,536 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Comcast were worth $18,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.19 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The business has a 50 day moving average of $36.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.26. The company has a market capitalization of $133.05 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders 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. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lowered Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark dropped their price target on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Nine 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

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.