2. Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 75
Viking Global’s Stake Value: $715,345,000
Dividend Yield as of February 15: 2.25%
Though Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), an American telecommunications company, saw a decline in the number of hedge funds holding positions in it, analysts remained positive on the company’s long-term outlook. This January, Cowen raised its price target on the stock to $64, with an Outperform rating on the shares, appreciating the company’s growth and buybacks.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has been increasing its dividends for the past 14 years consecutively. On January 27, the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, up 8% from its previous dividend. The stock’s dividend yield stands at 2.25%. Moreover, Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) paid over $4.5 billion in dividends in 2021. Viking Global started investing in the company during the fourth quarter of 2012. In Q4 2021, the hedge fund increased its position in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 40%, which presented 2.07% of Andreas Halvorsen’s portfolio.
The number of hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey having stakes in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) declined to 75 in Q3, from 84 in the previous quarter. The total value of these stakes is over $8.5 billion.
ClearBridge Investments mentioned Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in its Q2 2021 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:
“We funded the shift primarily with trims in Comcast following big gains in this name. Comcast is a long-term holding that have been and remain core holdings. During the quarter, however, we took gains and resized the positions to reflect their current risk-reward post strong increases in the stocks.
Comcast, like Blackstone, has been a meaningful long-term holding whose stock performance has at times lagged its robust fundamental performance. Over the last nine months the stock price caught up some with the fundamentals and looked like it had more room to run. Our thesis on the name evolved, however, following the May 17 announcement that competitor Discovery was merging its operations with Time Warner. This deal positions the new company as a credible competitor to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and Disney, and results in Comcast being left without the proverbial dance partner in the evolving pay TV/DTC landscape. While we continue to believe Comcast’s cable systems business is well-positioned and that NBCUniversal remains valuable, the competitive dynamic for NBCUniversal has stiffened. Our reduced position size reflects both our continued enthusiasm for many parts of the franchise and emerging concerns given the evolving pay TV/DTC landscape.”
