Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Grows Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 143.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,846 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Comcast were worth $76,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 904.0% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $10,632,000 after acquiring an additional 229,192 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 752.8% during the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 73,590 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $743,681,000. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 43,509 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 3,344 shares during the period. Finally, Robinson Value Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 136.7% during the 4th quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,842,000 after acquiring an additional 59,107 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.95 on Wednesday. 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 $36.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.29. The company has a market capitalization of $135.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is 31.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMCSA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lowered shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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, nine 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

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.