Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Makes New Investment in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,294,673 shares of the cable giant's stock, valued at approximately $48,589,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $5,317,167,000 after buying an additional 11,255,683 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth $3,835,226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $3,212,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,272 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in Comcast by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 79,102,667 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $2,968,723,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,823 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Comcast by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 50,320,446 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,890,027,000 after purchasing an additional 5,402,377 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Macquarie decreased their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group set a $44.50 price target on Comcast in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $37.00 price target on Comcast in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.10.

Comcast Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $34.58. 31,652,126 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,004,968. The stock has a market cap of $129.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.73. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $31.44 and a 52 week 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.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The cable giant reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $29.82 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is 32.43%.

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.