Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,166,028 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 211,752 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $51,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,798,173,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 121,265.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,530,426 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $892,799,000 after purchasing an additional 25,509,390 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Comcast by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 53,653,778 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,876,273,000 after purchasing an additional 7,084,451 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Comcast by 62.6% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 15,271,853 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $715,028,000 after purchasing an additional 5,880,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 535.8% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,754,976 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $222,628,000 after purchasing an additional 4,007,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.50.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of Comcast stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 20,282,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,615,199. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $36.38 and a 12-month high of $47.46. The company has a market capitalization of $154.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.79.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $31.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.41 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 12.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total value of $5,289,928.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Comcast Company 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.