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

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,872,341 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 91,847 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $70,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,835,226,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at $743,681,000. Amundi raised its holdings in Comcast by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $895,499,000 after buying an additional 14,369,056 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in Comcast by 55,334.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $345,565,000 after purchasing an additional 8,258,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 79,102,667 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $2,968,723,000 after buying an additional 5,039,823 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. Bank of America cut shares of Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Macquarie reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.50.

Comcast Stock Up 0.7 %

CMCSA stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $34.43. 28,156,667 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,760,766. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $32.20 and a 1-year high of $45.31. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $35.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.20. The firm has a market cap of $130.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. This is a boost from Comcast's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is 31.81%.

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.