Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 21.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,131,214 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 738,130 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $155,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $10,632,000 after buying an additional 229,192 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at about $743,681,000. Bfsg LLC raised 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 valued at $3,129,000 after buying an additional 73,590 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP raised 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 valued at $1,633,000 after buying an additional 3,344 shares during the period. Finally, Robinson Value Management Ltd. raised 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 valued at $3,842,000 after buying an additional 59,107 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on CMCSA. Citigroup dropped their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.75 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The company has a market capitalization of $138.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.07.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

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.