Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Buys 822,936 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 5.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,983,230 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 822,936 shares during the period. Comcast accounts for approximately 5.7% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Comcast were worth $667,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Comcast by 2.6% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 542,115 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $22,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,707 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at $10,003,000. Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 52.9% during the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 9,122 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,155 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,507 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. raised its position in Comcast by 9.0% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 16,480 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Comcast from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.19.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $42.32 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $36.43 and a 12 month high of $47.11. The firm has a market cap of $161.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.95.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Comcast’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

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.