World Investment Advisors Grows Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

World Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 258,466 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,921 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Comcast were worth $9,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 904.0% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $743,681,000. Bfsg LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 752.8% in the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 73,590 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 43,509 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 3,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robinson Value Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,842,000 after acquiring an additional 59,107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $36.61 on Thursday. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The stock has a market cap of $138.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.94.

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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Macquarie cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.64.

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.