Oarsman Capital Inc. Boosts Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Oarsman Capital Inc. raised its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 24,746 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,312 shares during the period. Oarsman Capital Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $43,724,000. Islay Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Islay Capital Management LLC now owns 38,601 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,449,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the period. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $353,000. Prudential PLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 133,746 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $5,019,000 after acquiring an additional 10,112 shares during the period. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $2,108,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Down 6.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $33.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $126.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.04, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $35.76 and its 200 day moving average is $38.87. 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 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share 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 expect 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. 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 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays decreased their target price on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.08.

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.