Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Stake Lifted by Horizon Investments LLC

Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,561 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,582 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 14.8% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 54.8% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Five Oceans Advisors increased its stake in Comcast by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 12,336 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Comcast by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 26,470 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $993,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $36.01 on Wednesday. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS 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%. Research analysts forecast 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 paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.81%.

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.