Twin Capital Management Inc. Grows Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 131,393 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 9,025 shares during the period. Comcast makes up approximately 0.8% of Twin Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $5,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Peterson Wealth Services boosted its stake in Comcast by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 31,473 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 16,086 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 5,376 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 162,209 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,113,000 after buying an additional 3,497 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 575,993 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $25,257,000 after buying an additional 21,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 101,022 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,430,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CMCSA. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BNP Paribas reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $44.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.50.

Comcast Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Comcast stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Thursday, reaching $39.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,269,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,473,711. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.38 and a 52-week high of $47.46. The company has a market cap of $156.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $41.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $31.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.41 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 19.75%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total transaction of $5,289,928.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Comcast Company 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.