Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Increases Stake in Comcast Corporation $CMCSA

Key Points

• Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 9.4% in Q4, adding 88,449 shares to hold 1,025,466 shares worth about $30.65 million, while institutional investors own roughly 84.32% of the company.
• Several major firms have trimmed price targets (UBS to $32, Goldman to $28, Barclays $28) and the stock's consensus rating is Hold with an average target of $34.68.
• Comcast beat Q4 EPS estimates ($0.84 vs. $0.75) while revenue was roughly flat, the company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.33 (a 4.7% yield), and the shares trade near $27.93 with a P/E of about 5.2.

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its position in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,025,466 shares of the cable giant's stock after purchasing an additional 88,449 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $30,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 12,275 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 13,636 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 82,778 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $2,601,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 8,429 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 35,919 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMCSA has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Comcast from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Comcast from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Comcast from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays set a $28.00 price target on Comcast and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.68.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $27.93 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $100.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.20, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.80. Comcast Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.75 and a 12-month high of $36.66.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $32.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.35 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 16.17%.Comcast's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. Comcast's payout ratio is currently 24.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, CEO Michael J. Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total value of $1,892,549.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 622,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,325,493.76. The trade was a 8.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Comcast Profile

Comcast Corporation NASDAQ: CMCSA is a diversified global media and technology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal operations are organized around Comcast Cable, which provides broadband internet, video, voice and wireless services to residential and business customers in the United States under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands, and NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment group that develops, produces and distributes content across broadcast and cable networks, film, and streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal's assets include the NBC broadcast network, a portfolio of cable channels, Universal Pictures and other film and television production businesses, and the Peacock streaming service.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CMCSA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.