Scharf Investments LLC Sells 257,985 Shares of Comcast Corporation $CMCSA

Key Points

• Scharf Investments LLC has reduced its stake in Comcast Corporation by 8.9%, selling 257,985 shares, and now holds 2,641,848 shares worth approximately $94.3 million.
• Comcast's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $1.25 EPS and revenue of $30.31 billion, marking a 2.1% increase from the previous year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, set to be paid on October 22nd, which represents a yield of 4.2%.

Scharf Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 8.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,641,848 shares of the cable giant's stock after selling 257,985 shares during the period. Comcast comprises approximately 2.7% of Scharf Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Scharf Investments LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Comcast worth $94,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Comcast during the first quarter valued at approximately $940,015,000. Dodge & Cox grew its position in Comcast by 19.1% in the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 94,217,741 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $3,476,635,000 after acquiring an additional 15,115,074 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Comcast by 1,959.3% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,228,732 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $488,140,000 after acquiring an additional 12,586,329 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Comcast by 724.7% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,160,649 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $374,927,000 after acquiring an additional 8,928,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Comcast by 119.1% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,595,322 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $280,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,128,434 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Monday, reaching $31.49. 36,351,866 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,130,610. Comcast Corporation has a twelve month low of $31.03 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The company has a market capitalization of $116.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The cable giant reported $1.25 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $29.81 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 18.44%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast Corporation will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CMCSA. Arete Research raised shares of Comcast to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Comcast from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.22.

About Comcast

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.