First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Buys 50,329 Shares of Comcast Corporation $CMCSA

Key Points

• First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its Comcast stake by 71.4% in the third quarter, adding 50,329 shares to own 120,836 shares valued at approximately $2.7 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 84.32% of Comcast’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts maintain a mixed outlook, with 11 Buy, 13 Hold, and five Sell ratings. The consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $30.81.
• Comcast reported quarterly earnings of $1.04 per share, exceeding estimates, while revenue declined 1.2% year over year. The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, representing an annualized yield of approximately 6.3%.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) by 71.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 120,836 shares of the cable giant's stock after acquiring an additional 50,329 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Comcast were worth $2,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Comcast by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,332,228 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $1,295,200,000 after purchasing an additional 3,952,642 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 10.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 40,864,921 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,173,232,000 after purchasing an additional 3,783,234 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,461,308 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $845,919,000 after purchasing an additional 507,097 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Comcast by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 15,677,870 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $468,612,000 after purchasing an additional 2,573,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 13,797,091 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $404,414,000 after buying an additional 4,175,418 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. New Street Research lowered their price objective on Comcast from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $29.00 to $27.50 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Moffett Nathanson decreased their price target on Comcast from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Comcast from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.81.

Comcast Stock Up 0.8%

CMCSA opened at $21.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company's 50-day moving average is $24.28 and its 200 day moving average is $24.91. Comcast Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $20.48 and a fifty-two week high of $32.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.81, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.68.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $29.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $29.24 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 8.97%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Research analysts expect that Comcast Corporation will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 7th. Comcast's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.72%.

Comcast Company Profile

Comcast Corporation NASDAQ: CMCSA is a global media and communications company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its businesses include broadband internet, wireless services, video, voice, and business connectivity services, primarily marketed under the Xfinity brand in the United States. Comcast also provides advertising and related technology services to businesses and media organizations.

Through NBCUniversal, Comcast operates national and local television networks, broadcast network NBC, Spanish-language network Telemundo, the Peacock streaming service, and a portfolio of film and television production businesses.

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