Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,531 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 662 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,904,647,000 after buying an additional 6,062,658 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,871,235 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,331,192,000 after purchasing an additional 416,759 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,717,762 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $667,620,000 after acquiring an additional 822,936 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 4.8% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 14,918,501 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $623,146,000 after acquiring an additional 676,920 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $34.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $37.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.86. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on CMCSA shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. BNP Paribas raised Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Profile

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.