Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Increases Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 60.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,058,445 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 778,760 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.05% of Comcast worth $80,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Steph & Co. grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 154.6% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 611 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 204.7% in the 2nd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $40.11 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $47.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

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 net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The business had revenue of $29.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.78.

Comcast 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.