Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.83.

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $38.00 price target on Comcast in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,835,226,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $743,681,000. Amundi grew its stake in Comcast by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 24,086,671 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $895,499,000 after buying an additional 14,369,056 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Comcast by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $5,317,167,000 after buying an additional 11,255,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in Comcast by 55,334.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $36.26 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $137.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.59. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. Sell-side analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.81%.

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.