Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys Shares of 1,163,234 Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,163,234 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $43,724,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 173.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,418,064 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $59,237,000 after purchasing an additional 899,716 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Comcast during the third quarter valued at about $451,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast in the third quarter worth about $1,535,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Sora Investors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,998,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CMCSA. Barclays decreased their target price on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Macquarie lowered their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.08.

Comcast Price Performance

Comcast stock opened at $33.38 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.87. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $45.31. The company has a market capitalization 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.