Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC Grows Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 284,329 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the period. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $10,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 14.8% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Five Oceans Advisors lifted its holdings in Comcast by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 12,336 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 26,470 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $993,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beck Mack & Oliver LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC now owns 15,539 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Comcast from $44.50 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Comcast from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $37.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.50.

Comcast Trading Up 1.8 %

Comcast stock opened at $34.20 on Wednesday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $35.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.24, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.20 and a 52 week high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. Analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.