Mechanics Bank Trust Department Reduces Stock Holdings in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department decreased its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 10.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,474 shares of the cable giant’s stock after selling 1,838 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Comcast were worth $714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 17.3% during the first quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 6,121 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $265,000 after acquiring an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 5.7% in the first quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,784 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 6.3% in the first quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 5,693 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 7.4% in the first quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 60,451 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,621,000 after buying an additional 4,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 7.7% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 38,925 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,687,000 after buying an additional 2,799 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on CMCSA shares. BNP Paribas cut Comcast from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Comcast from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Comcast from $55.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.62.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $38.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $38.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.46. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The company had revenue of $30.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 3rd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comcast news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total transaction of $10,134,384.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,380,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.