Mariner LLC Trims Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Mariner LLC trimmed its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,021,465 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 69,361 shares during the period. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $75,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,835,226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,212,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,272 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,175,969 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,695,454,000 after acquiring an additional 4,669,069 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 34,101,077 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,279,813,000 after purchasing an additional 2,270,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Comcast by 2.6% in 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 last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $34.15 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.49. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.20 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $129.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94.

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 net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Comcast from $44.50 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America cut Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Comcast from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.50.

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.