LGT Capital Partners LTD. Sells 15,600 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. lessened its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,051,620 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 15,600 shares during the period. Comcast comprises 1.5% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $39,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Argentarii LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at $769,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $895,499,000 after purchasing an additional 14,369,056 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 20,940 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 66.4% in the 4th quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 107,786 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,045,000 after purchasing an additional 43,030 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CMCSA. StockNews.com upgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

Comcast Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of CMCSA opened at $37.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $142.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $36.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 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.