Allianz SE Takes Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Allianz SE purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 179,428 shares of the cable giant’s stock, valued at approximately $6,709,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mechanics Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,292,000. DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in Comcast by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 760,432 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $28,539,000 after purchasing an additional 20,312 shares during the last quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $233,000. Finally, denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at about $709,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CMCSA. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.64.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $138.46 billion, a PE ratio of 8.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.99. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

Comcast Company 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.