Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Comcast from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.06.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $37.40 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $42.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $143.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.99. Comcast has a one year low of $36.43 and a one year high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 365.4% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 220.3% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 177.1% in the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 812 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. 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.