South Dakota Investment Council Boosts Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 729,186 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,300 shares during the quarter. Comcast comprises 0.5% of South Dakota Investment Council’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Comcast were worth $27,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Comcast by 55,334.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $345,565,000 after acquiring an additional 8,258,128 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,904,647,000 after acquiring an additional 6,062,658 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Comcast by 530.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $143,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,885,370 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Comcast by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $318,036,000 after acquiring an additional 1,833,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 6.0% in the 3rd 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 worth $1,268,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,717,762 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America downgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $36.26 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 29.88%.

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.