Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target Lowered to $44.00 at Citigroup

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its target price cut by analysts at Citigroup from $47.00 to $44.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the cable giant’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 31.13% from the stock’s previous close.

CMCSA has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Macquarie cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Nine 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

Comcast Stock Performance

Comcast stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.56. 25,592,346 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 25,326,020. Comcast has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $47.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $128.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. Equities research analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Comcast by 365.4% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the third quarter valued at approximately $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.