Conning Inc. Acquires 100,435 Shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Conning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 11.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,006,310 shares of the cable giant's stock after buying an additional 100,435 shares during the quarter. Comcast accounts for approximately 1.3% of Conning Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Conning Inc.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $37,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $3,835,226,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $743,681,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $895,499,000 after buying an additional 14,369,056 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings 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 valued at $5,317,167,000 after acquiring an additional 11,255,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 724.7% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,160,649 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $374,927,000 after acquiring an additional 8,928,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CMCSA. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on Comcast from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bernstein Bank reduced their price target on Comcast from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Comcast from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays reduced their price target on Comcast from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Comcast from $55.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.96.

Comcast Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,160,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,020,615. Comcast Corporation has a 52 week low of $31.44 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The company has a market capitalization of $134.13 billion, a PE ratio of 8.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $34.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.54.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The cable giant reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 19.70%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.43%.

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.