HM Payson & Co. Reduces Stock Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

HM Payson & Co. reduced its position in shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,321 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 2,080 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Comcast in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 14.2% during the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 25,968 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 27.9% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 1,649 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 7.3% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 95,192 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,976,000 after purchasing an additional 6,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,445,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CMCSA shares. Macquarie decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Comcast Trading Up 3.6 %

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $37.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast Co. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The company has a market cap of $142.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.35.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. 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 (DPR) is currently 31.81%.

Comcast Company 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.