Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target Lowered to $36.00 at Macquarie

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Macquarie from $42.00 to $36.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the cable giant’s stock. Macquarie’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 6.85% from the company’s previous close.

CMCSA has been the subject of several other research reports. Pivotal Research raised their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.53.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of Comcast stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.69. The company had a trading volume of 15,989,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,830,689. The stock has a market cap of $128.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $47.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 77.2% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,182 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 6,179 shares during the period. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 14,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in Comcast by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 832,594 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,810,000 after purchasing an additional 132,442 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Comcast by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 786,946 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,871,000 after purchasing an additional 41,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 211.7% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,890,571 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $120,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,246 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Company Profile

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.