Brokerages Set Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target at $43.83

Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.83.

Several analysts have issued reports on CMCSA shares. Scotiabank downgraded Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America downgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $36.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $138.95 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $45.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.08.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, research analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 31.81%.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Prospera Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Comcast by 12.1% during the third quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,507 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,243 shares during the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 52.9% during the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 9,122 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 3,155 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter worth about $10,003,000. Payden & Rygel boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 29,570 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 10,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 286,802 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $11,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443 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.