iA Global Asset Management Inc. Boosts Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 503,013 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,497 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $18,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after buying an additional 6,062,658 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 34,101,077 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,279,813,000 after purchasing an additional 2,270,186 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $1,227,591,000 after purchasing an additional 838,366 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 6.0% during 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 period. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $895,499,000 after buying an additional 14,369,056 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $36.09 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.11. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The company has a market capitalization of $136.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.70, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on Comcast 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

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.