Sandy Spring Bank Trims Stake in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Sandy Spring Bank reduced its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 47.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,480 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 32,369 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Comcast were worth $1,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Loop Capital lowered 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. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

Comcast Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.50 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.10. The stock has a market cap of $138.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast Co. has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.31. 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 (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.