Blume Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Blume Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 237,319 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,025 shares during the quarter. Comcast accounts for approximately 2.0% of Blume Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Blume Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $8,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. FMR LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Comcast by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 32,709,601 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,227,591,000 after purchasing an additional 838,366 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 6.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 30,364,136 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,268,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717,762 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in Comcast by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $895,499,000 after purchasing an additional 14,369,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $743,681,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Benchmark decreased their target price on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

Comcast Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $34.70 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.23. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $131.20 billion, a PE ratio of 8.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This is an increase 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 3.80%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.