Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Lowers Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. decreased its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186,001 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 6,873 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $6,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 269.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $36.50 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. The company has a market capitalization of $138.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.80, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.10. Comcast Co. has a 1 year low of $32.50 and a 1 year high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CMCSA. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

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.