Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $4.03 Million Holdings in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 18.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,088 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,803 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Comcast were worth $4,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Norges Bank bought a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $3,835,226,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $743,681,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 14,369,056 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Comcast by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,317,167,000 after acquiring an additional 11,255,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 50,320,446 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,890,027,000 after acquiring an additional 5,402,377 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Comcast from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $44.50 target price (down from $45.00) on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Argus lowered Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.10.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA opened at $34.53 on Friday. Comcast Corporation has a 52-week low of $31.44 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.92 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.82.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The cable giant reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 12.72%. The business had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. Comcast’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 3.82%. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 32.43%.

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.