Bridgewater Associates LP Acquires 1,606,937 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Bridgewater Associates LP raised its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 115.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,999,578 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,606,937 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Comcast were worth $112,574,000 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 position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 269.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $34.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $129.12 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.49. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.20 and a 12 month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. 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 is 31.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.50.

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.