Gabelli Funds LLC Cuts Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,101,480 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 39,860 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $41,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 14.8% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Five Oceans Advisors increased its holdings in Comcast by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 12,336 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 26,470 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $993,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Old Port Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 6,910 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Comcast from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Macquarie cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Comcast from $44.50 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.50.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $34.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $129.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.20 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.49.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.