Employees Retirement System of Texas Decreases Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Employees Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 87,610 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 23,609 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Comcast were worth $32,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth $3,835,226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,212,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,272 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 7.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 2.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 838,366 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,725,355 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $927,943,000 after purchasing an additional 158,639 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group decreased their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.08.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $33.38 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $126.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. 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.