Heron Bay Capital Management Lowers Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Heron Bay Capital Management decreased its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 147,054 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 6,232 shares during the quarter. Comcast accounts for about 1.2% of Heron Bay Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Heron Bay Capital Management’s holdings in Comcast were worth $5,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,156,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,552 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 5,140 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Comcast by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,722,885 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $102,192,000 after buying an additional 164,185 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,131,214 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $155,044,000 after buying an additional 738,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truffle Hound Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $3,002,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

Comcast stock opened at $36.75 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.07. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors 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. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on CMCSA. Bank of America lowered shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 target price on Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank cut 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 note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine 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, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.