Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Now Covered by The Goldman Sachs Group

Equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target on the cable giant’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.12% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on CMCSA. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Macquarie dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.62.

Comcast Stock Down 0.5 %

CMCSA stock opened at $38.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.96 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Comcast has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $47.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $38.78 and its 200-day moving average is $41.46.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 12.64% and a return on equity of 20.10%. The business had revenue of $30.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 2,000,000 shares in the company, valued at $6,380,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Comcast by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 115,703,280 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,015,737,000 after acquiring an additional 7,929,963 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at $2,542,988,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Comcast by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,016,389 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,214,512,000 after buying an additional 8,243,302 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P increased its stake in Comcast by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 18,873,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $827,616,000 after buying an additional 1,854,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Comcast by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 15,688,650 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $687,947,000 after acquiring an additional 570,050 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Comcast

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.