Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Reduces Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 547,062 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 22,000 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Comcast were worth $21,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 107,773,317 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,725,926,000 after purchasing an additional 15,625,543 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its position in Comcast by 25,881.7% during the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 10,850,995 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $470,391,000 after buying an additional 10,809,231 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Comcast by 41.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,016,389 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,214,512,000 after buying an additional 8,243,302 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 80.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,542,253 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $457,007,000 after acquiring an additional 4,714,586 shares during the period. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 116.8% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 5,145,838 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $227,034,000 after acquiring an additional 2,772,190 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CMCSA. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Comcast in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Pivotal Research lowered their target price on Comcast from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.78.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $40.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.66. The company has a market capitalization of $157.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.01.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $29.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.02 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.80%.

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.