United Bank Acquires 5,161 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,810 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,161 shares during the period. United Bank’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $3,835,226,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 34,101,077 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,279,813,000 after purchasing an additional 2,270,186 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 32,709,601 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,227,591,000 after buying an additional 838,366 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Comcast by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $895,499,000 after buying an additional 14,369,056 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $743,681,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.64.

Comcast Trading Down 2.0 %

CMCSA opened at $36.62 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $32.50 and a one 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

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

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.