Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 287,321 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,367,435 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 287,321 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Comcast were worth $88,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Comcast by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 45,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 3.5% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 134,166 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,604,000 after buying an additional 4,586 shares during the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 5.0% in the third quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 8,748 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 45.7% in the third quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 260,458 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $10,879,000 after acquiring an additional 81,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Comcast by 1.1% during the third quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 140,357 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $6,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,545 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CMCSA. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie decreased their price objective on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.64.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.62 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.89 and a 200-day moving average of $38.99. 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 firm has a market cap of $138.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.