Appleton Partners Inc. MA Raises Stake in Comcast Corporation $CMCSA

Key Points

• Appleton Partners Inc. MA significantly increased its stake in Comcast Corporation by 459% during the second quarter, bringing its total ownership to 33,832 shares valued at approximately $1.2 million.
• Comcast recently reported a quarterly net income of $1.25 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $30.31 billion—up 2.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend payment of $0.33 per share on October 22nd, offering an annual yield of 4.2% based on its current payout ratio of 21.82%.

Appleton Partners Inc. MA grew its stake in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 459.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,832 shares of the cable giant's stock after purchasing an additional 27,780 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA's holdings in Comcast were worth $1,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 94,217,741 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $3,476,635,000 after purchasing an additional 15,115,074 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 33,636,264 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,240,955,000 after purchasing an additional 926,663 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 1st quarter worth about $940,015,000. Harris Associates L P boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 20,594,519 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $759,938,000 after buying an additional 111,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 20,243,358 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $746,980,000 after buying an additional 427,705 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $31.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $114.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company's 50-day moving average is $32.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.09. Comcast Corporation has a 12-month low of $30.38 and a 12-month high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The cable giant reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $30.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.81 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 18.44% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. Research analysts expect that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CMCSA. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Comcast to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $45.50 price objective (up from $45.00) on shares of Comcast in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.06.

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.

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