Achmea Investment Management B.V. Sells 268,648 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. reduced its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 53.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 231,967 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 268,648 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $8,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Down 1.4 %

CMCSA stock opened at $34.70 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.23. The stock has a market cap of $131.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.36, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CMCSA. StockNews.com raised shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

Comcast Company 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.