Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Cuts Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 204,204 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 17,647 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Comcast were worth $7,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CMCSA. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 54.8% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its holdings in Comcast by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $622,000 after buying an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Five Oceans Advisors raised its position in Comcast by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 12,336 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $993,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

Comcast Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CMCSA opened at $36.01 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $35.86 and its 200 day moving average is $39.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The company has a market capitalization of $136.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, 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%. Research analysts expect 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. Shareholders 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 represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 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.