Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.13.

Several research firms have recently commented on CMCSA. Bank of America cut shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA opened at $33.19 on Thursday. Comcast has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $45.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. 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. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Comcast by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,584 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,277,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,445 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,829 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. grew its stake in Comcast by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 13,554 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by 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.