Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 659,094 Shares of Comcast Corporation $CMCSA

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 181.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,021,827 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 659,094 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $29,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 75.5% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 932 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in Comcast during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Comcast by 212.6% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,016 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CMCSA. Wells Fargo & Company set a $23.00 price target on Comcast and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Comcast from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on Comcast from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Seaport Research Partners raised Comcast from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.96.

Comcast Stock Up 6.1%

Shares of CMCSA opened at $24.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.20. Comcast Corporation has a 52 week low of $21.28 and a 52 week high of $34.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.67.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.07. Comcast had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 8.97%.The business had revenue of $29.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.24 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Comcast Corporation will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.5%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.72%.

Comcast Profile

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is a diversified global media and technology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal operations are organized around Comcast Cable, which provides broadband internet, video, voice and wireless services to residential and business customers in the United States under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands, and NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment group that develops, produces and distributes content across broadcast and cable networks, film, and streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal’s assets include the NBC broadcast network, a portfolio of cable channels, Universal Pictures and other film and television production businesses, and the Peacock streaming service.