Washington Trust Bank Has $9.90 Million Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Washington Trust Bank reduced its stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 263,780 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 5,928 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Comcast were worth $9,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $743,681,000. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $895,499,000 after acquiring an additional 14,369,056 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased 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 worth $345,565,000 after purchasing an additional 8,258,128 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased 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 worth $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Comcast by 530.5% in 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 owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CMCSA. Barclays lowered their target price on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Macquarie cut their target price on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price objective on Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $36.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The firm has a market cap of $138.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.86, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $35.83 and its 200 day moving average is $39.08.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.