Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 11,824 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 415,296 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 11,824 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Comcast were worth $15,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 269.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during 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. acquired a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Comcast during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.62 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.89 and its 200 day moving average is $38.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark cut 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. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.64.

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.