Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Sells 183,800 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. trimmed its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 57.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 133,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 183,800 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $5,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Comcast by 8.6% during 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,835,226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,212,244,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,272 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox grew its position in shares of Comcast by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 79,102,667 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,968,723,000 after acquiring an additional 5,039,823 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 50,320,446 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,890,027,000 after acquiring an additional 5,402,377 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on CMCSA shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.10.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $34.52 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $128.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.84 and a 200-day moving average of $36.95.

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

Comcast Dividend Announcement

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