Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Buys New Shares in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 91,173 shares of the cable giant's stock, valued at approximately $3,422,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,835,226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $3,212,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,272 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Comcast by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,175,969 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,695,454,000 after buying an additional 4,669,069 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 34,101,077 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,279,813,000 after buying an additional 2,270,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Comcast by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 32,709,601 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $1,227,591,000 after buying an additional 838,366 shares in 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 brokerages recently weighed in on CMCSA. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.50.

Comcast Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $33.96. The company had a trading volume of 21,444,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,746,464. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.20 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business's 50-day moving average is $35.51 and its 200 day moving average is $38.32. The stock has a market cap of $128.40 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) 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 return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Comcast's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. 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.