First Financial Bank Trust Division Reduces Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

First Financial Bank Trust Division lessened its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 15.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,931 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 3,118 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Comcast were worth $635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in Comcast during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Comcast by 365.4% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp lifted its stake in Comcast by 177.1% during the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 812 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $37.44. 19,026,773 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,704,725. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.27. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 27th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.39.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.