Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Decreases Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 83,368 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 3,211 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $3,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 269.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective 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. Bank of America cut shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Ten 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.64.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $36.72 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.96. The company has a market cap of $138.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.85, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. 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 fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend 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.