Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC Cuts Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC lowered its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,784,048 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 185,879 shares during the quarter. Comcast comprises approximately 1.2% of Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $104,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 269.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Down 2.0 %

Comcast stock opened at $36.62 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.99. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.46 billion, a PE ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CMCSA. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 target price on Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price objective on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.64.

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.