Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. Grows Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. increased its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,964,012 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 13,086 shares during the quarter. Comcast comprises 2.2% of Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $411,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 54.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Five Oceans Advisors increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 12,336 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 26,470 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $993,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Macquarie lowered their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Benchmark cut their price target on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.64.

Comcast Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $36.62 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $35.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.99. The company has a market capitalization of $138.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31.

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, beating 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, analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

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.