Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is Brandes Investment Partners LP’s 6th Largest Position

Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,931,630 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 700,607 shares during the period. Comcast accounts for 2.4% of Brandes Investment Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned approximately 0.13% of Comcast worth $192,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Comcast by 7.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 115,703,280 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,015,737,000 after acquiring an additional 7,929,963 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Comcast by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 38,329,384 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,500,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,626 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Comcast by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,016,389 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,214,512,000 after purchasing an additional 8,243,302 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P grew its position in Comcast by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 18,873,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $827,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,304,304 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $495,694,000 after purchasing an additional 368,685 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $41.64 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.57. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $36.43 and a 1-year high of $47.11. The company has a market cap of $163.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 12.46%. The business had revenue of $29.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CMCSA. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Comcast from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Pivotal Research cut their price objective on Comcast from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.58.

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.