Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Acquires 98,605 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 427,120 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,605 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Comcast were worth $17,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,027 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,411,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 191,846 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,513,000 after acquiring an additional 15,664 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $80,232,000 after purchasing an additional 68,139 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $92,331,000 after purchasing an additional 15,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in Comcast by 3,816.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 558,382 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $21,866,000 after purchasing an additional 544,123 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $42.64 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $42.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.11. The company has a market capitalization of $163.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $36.43 and a 1-year high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. StockNews.com raised Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Comcast from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.19.

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.