FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Acquires 649 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,690 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Comcast were worth $889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Comcast by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 20,782 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 5,190 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 60,017 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,252,000 after buying an additional 4,315 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Comcast by 53.1% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 66,627 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,501,000 after buying an additional 23,114 shares in the last quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 114,552 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,299,000 after buying an additional 2,803 shares during the period. Finally, Chemistry Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $397,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Up 0.7 %

CMCSA opened at $36.58 on Friday. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $36.15 and a 12 month high of $47.11. The company has a market cap of $139.97 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.11 and a 200 day moving average of $40.18.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. Comcast’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value 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. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This 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 company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.33.

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.