Xponance Inc. Boosts Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 555,574 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,166 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $24,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Comcast by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 53,653,778 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,876,273,000 after buying an additional 7,084,451 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,798,173,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Comcast by 0.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 46,019,891 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,040,522,000 after buying an additional 141,874 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Comcast by 0.4% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 42,448,741 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,245,022,000 after buying an additional 189,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 1.1% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 42,441,142 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,987,094,000 after buying an additional 473,150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total value of $5,289,928.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Redburn Atlantic cut Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $50.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.50.

Comcast Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.63 on Thursday, hitting $39.62. 15,482,356 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,532,176. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.98. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $36.38 and a twelve month high of $47.46.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $31.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.41 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 12.66%. Analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

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.