QRG Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 690,482 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,278 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $25,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $345,565,000 after acquiring an additional 8,258,128 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Comcast by 530.5% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $143,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885,370 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Comcast by 31.7% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $318,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,453 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $1,268,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717,762 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $35.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The company has a market capitalization of $132.71 billion, a PE ratio of 8.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $36.41 and its 200 day moving average is $39.52.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CMCSA shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised their price target on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.