Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,329,384 shares of the cable giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,000,626 shares during the quarter. Comcast makes up about 0.4% of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.98% of Comcast worth $1,500,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth $2,056,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $495,694,000 after purchasing an additional 368,685 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,027 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 191,846 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,513,000 after purchasing an additional 15,664 shares during the period. Finally, Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 15,613 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CMCSA. KeyCorp cut their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com lowered Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.78.

Comcast Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $39.55 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $153.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $36.43 and a one year high of $47.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $29.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Comcast’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.80%.

Comcast Company 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.