Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Reduces Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 39.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,355,210 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 17,065,980 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Comcast were worth $989,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,835,226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,212,244,000 after buying an additional 1,006,272 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 34,101,077 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,279,813,000 after buying an additional 2,270,186 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Comcast by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 32,709,601 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,227,591,000 after acquiring an additional 838,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,725,355 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $927,943,000 after acquiring an additional 158,639 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CMCSA. Macquarie reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.64.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $36.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $138.84 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.96. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.