Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Given New $37.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $45.00 to $37.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the cable giant’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank raised Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

Comcast Stock Up 1.2 %

CMCSA stock opened at $33.66 on Friday. Comcast has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $47.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.05, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its 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 return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 269.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Comcast by 365.4% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.