Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Acquired by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council grew its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 729,186 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 70,300 shares during the period. Comcast makes up approximately 0.5% of South Dakota Investment Council’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Comcast were worth $27,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CMCSA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $345,565,000 after purchasing an additional 8,258,128 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 530.5% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $143,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885,370 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 31.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $318,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,453 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 6.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 30,364,136 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,268,310,000 after buying an additional 1,717,762 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $36.26 on Friday. 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. The stock has a market cap of $137.08 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.58.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date 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 29.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CMCSA. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 target price on Comcast in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their target price on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp upped their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

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.