Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 881,971 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 53,660 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $33,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Comcast by 269.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in Comcast by 54.8% during the third 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CMCSA. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. Scotiabank cut shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA opened at $35.10 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.52. The company has a market cap of $132.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 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.