KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys New Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,443,006 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $54,156,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. Scotiabank lowered Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Benchmark cut their price target on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

Comcast Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $36.75 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.08. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $138.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change 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.