Madison Investment Advisors LLC Invests $22.50 Million in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 599,394 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $22,495,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Impact Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at $450,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 351,998 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $13,210,000 after acquiring an additional 102,087 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in Comcast by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 950,442 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $35,528,000 after acquiring an additional 141,819 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Comcast by 52.8% in the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 101,859 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,858,000 after acquiring an additional 35,212 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its stake in Comcast by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 201,530 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $35.19 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.26. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.48, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America cut Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

About Comcast

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.