Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 91,847 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund 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 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 269.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $33.96 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.20 and a 1 year high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $128.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.30.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 31.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Macquarie decreased their price objective on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Comcast from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $37.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Comcast from $44.50 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.50.

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.