Private Trust Co. NA Sells 1,522 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Private Trust Co. NA lessened its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,507 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,522 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 904.0% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 752.8% in the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,129,000 after purchasing an additional 73,590 shares during the period. Robinson Value Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Comcast by 136.7% in the fourth quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,842,000 after purchasing an additional 59,107 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 15.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,161,000 after purchasing an additional 22,684 shares during the period. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Comcast by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 855,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,118,000 after purchasing an additional 24,827 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CMCSA. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank cut shares of 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $35.90 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $36.32 and its 200-day moving average is $39.47. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $135.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

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.