First National Trust Co Boosts Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

First National Trust Co grew its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 22.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,327 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,826 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $743,681,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in Comcast by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $895,499,000 after acquiring an additional 14,369,056 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Comcast by 55,334.5% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $345,565,000 after acquiring an additional 8,258,128 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after acquiring an additional 6,062,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Comcast by 530.5% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $143,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885,370 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Up 2.1 %

Comcast stock opened at $35.43 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $133.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.20.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is 31.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

Comcast Profile

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.