Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Receives $43.83 Average Price Target from Analysts

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.64.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CMCSA. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America cut shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital decreased their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP acquired a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $343,000. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $2,886,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 740,084 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $27,775,000 after buying an additional 81,082 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 382,234 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $14,345,000 after buying an additional 8,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $48,589,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $36.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $139.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. 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 payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

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.