Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Sold by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG cut its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 23.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 252,929 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 77,158 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Comcast were worth $9,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 14.8% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 54.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Five Oceans Advisors increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 12,336 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 26,470 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CMCSA. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America downgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on Comcast in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.64.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $36.62 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.99. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $138.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.81%.

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.