Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $31.02 Million Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 826,436 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 26,143 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Comcast were worth $31,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Comcast by 55,334.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,904,647,000 after buying an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Comcast by 530.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $143,242,000 after buying an additional 2,885,370 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Comcast by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $318,036,000 after buying an additional 1,833,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 30,364,136 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,268,310,000 after buying an additional 1,717,762 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $33.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $129.87 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.68. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $38.22 and its 200-day moving average is $39.97.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. 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 3.89%. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 29.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CMCSA. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company 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.