AIA Group Ltd Sells 17,725 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

AIA Group Ltd trimmed its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 96,969 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 17,725 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,835,226,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth approximately $743,681,000. Amundi raised its holdings in Comcast by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $895,499,000 after acquiring an additional 14,369,056 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in Comcast by 55,334.5% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Comcast by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 34,101,077 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,279,813,000 after purchasing an additional 2,270,186 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie cut their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price target on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.64.

Comcast Price Performance

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

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. 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. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

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.