O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Sells 97,115 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,818,432 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 97,115 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $68,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 45,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 3.5% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 134,166 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $5,604,000 after acquiring an additional 4,586 shares during the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management grew its holdings in Comcast by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 8,748 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP raised its position in shares of Comcast by 45.7% during the 3rd quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 260,458 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,879,000 after acquiring an additional 81,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 140,357 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $6,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,545 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie decreased their target price on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.64.

Comcast Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $36.62 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $138.46 billion, a PE ratio of 8.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $45.31.

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 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, analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend 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.