OFI Invest Asset Management Makes New Investment in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,020 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA opened at $36.11 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $136.53 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.32. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. On average, analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is 31.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CMCSA. Macquarie lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lowered shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of 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. Nine 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

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.