Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by Sepio Capital LP

Sepio Capital LP lessened its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 26.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,768 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 13,891 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,835,226,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $743,681,000. Amundi raised its stake in Comcast by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $895,499,000 after acquiring an additional 14,369,056 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted 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 acquiring an additional 8,258,128 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 34,101,077 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,279,813,000 after purchasing an additional 2,270,186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank cut shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark decreased their price target on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.08.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $33.38 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $35.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.87. The company has a market cap of $126.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. 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 (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.81%.

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.