Comcast Corporation $CMCSA Stock Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its Comcast stake by 217.9% in the third quarter, acquiring 507,533 additional shares for a total holding of 740,420 shares valued at $16.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.32% of Comcast.
• Comcast shares opened at $21.90, near the lower end of their 52-week range, while the company’s latest earnings exceeded estimates with $1.04 EPS and $29.94 billion in revenue, despite a 1.2% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33, equivalent to a 6.0% annualized yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $30.81.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 217.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 740,420 shares of the cable giant's stock after buying an additional 507,533 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $16,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 16.6% in the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,549,714 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $55,482,000 after purchasing an additional 363,552 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank boosted its holdings in Comcast by 87.2% during the second quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 251,190 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $6,167,000 after buying an additional 117,038 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Comcast during the second quarter worth about $137,515,000. Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the first quarter worth about $660,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Comcast by 10.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 40,864,921 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,173,232,000 after buying an additional 3,783,234 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $21.90 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $77.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.09, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.68. Comcast Corporation has a 52 week low of $20.48 and a 52 week high of $32.85. The company's 50-day moving average price is $24.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $29.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.24 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 8.97% and a return on equity of 14.77%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Comcast Corporation will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 7th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CMCSA. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Comcast from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $26.00 price target on Comcast and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price target on Comcast from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp cut Comcast from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $18.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.81.

Comcast Company Profile

Comcast Corporation is a global media and communications company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1963 as American Cable Systems, the company grew through the expansion of cable television and broadband services and adopted the Comcast name in 1969.

Through its Connectivity & Platforms businesses, Comcast provides residential and business customers with broadband internet, video, voice, mobile and related services. Its Xfinity brand offers internet, television, streaming and wireless products in the United States, while Comcast Business serves commercial and enterprise customers with connectivity, communications and technology solutions.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.