Quantessence Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Quantessence Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 18,428 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Comcast by 269.9% in the fourth 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 period. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $33.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $127.04 billion, a PE ratio of 8.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $32.20 and a 1-year high of $45.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.23.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.50.

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.