Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,937,001 shares of the cable giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 472,659 shares during the quarter. Comcast comprises 2.3% of Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned 0.47% of Comcast worth $673,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 269.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.62 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.99. Comcast Co. has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31. The company has a market cap of $138.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Research analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.64.

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.