AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 26.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,370,413 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,585,178 shares during the quarter. Comcast comprises about 0.6% of AQR Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.33% of Comcast worth $463,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas lowered Comcast from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Comcast from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $37.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.10.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $33.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $127.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $31.44 and a twelve month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The cable giant reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.