First Horizon Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,194 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 686 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 904.0% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 752.8% in the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,129,000 after purchasing an additional 73,590 shares during the period. Robinson Value Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 136.7% in the 4th quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,842,000 after purchasing an additional 59,107 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Comcast by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after buying an additional 22,684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. increased its position in Comcast by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 855,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,118,000 after buying an additional 24,827 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CMCSA. Evercore ISI raised Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. BNP Paribas raised Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $36.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $45.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.52 and a 200 day moving average of $39.57.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Comcast’s payout ratio is 31.81%.

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.