Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 908,024 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 83.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 174,742 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 908,024 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $6,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $743,681,000. Bfsg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 752.8% during the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 73,590 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 43,509 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 3,344 shares during the period. Aviva PLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 2,327,702 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $87,359,000 after acquiring an additional 156,986 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 34,101,077 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,279,813,000 after acquiring an additional 2,270,186 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $35.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.11. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $31.44 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.72 billion, a PE ratio of 8.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 32.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Comcast from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Comcast from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $37.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $44.50 target price (down previously from $45.00) on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Comcast from $55.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.10.

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.