First National Advisers LLC Reduces Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

First National Advisers LLC decreased its holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 74,166 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 20,869 shares during the quarter. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $396,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 23,493 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,602 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,467 shares in the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Comcast by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 37,179 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 14,627 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Trading Up 2.1 %

CMCSA stock opened at $35.43 on Friday. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.19.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CMCSA shares. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.