Eastern Bank Sells 962 Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Eastern Bank decreased its stake in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,333 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 962 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Comcast were worth $613,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position 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 valued at $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after buying an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 92.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,722,620 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $339,223,000 after buying an additional 4,182,525 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position 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 valued at $143,242,000 after buying an additional 2,885,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP boosted its position in Comcast by 26.7% in the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 9,500,000 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $372,020,000 after buying an additional 2,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $36.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $139.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.25. Comcast Co. has a one year low of $36.24 and a one year high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen dropped their price target 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. Finally, Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.