Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.64.

A number of research firms have issued reports on CMCSA. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America downgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Macquarie cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,507 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243 shares during the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC grew its position in Comcast by 52.9% in the 3rd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 9,122 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 3,155 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at $10,003,000. Payden & Rygel lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 51.9% in the 3rd quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 29,570 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 10,100 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 0.5% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 286,802 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $11,980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Trading Up 0.9 %

CMCSA opened at $36.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $139.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.90, a P/E/G 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 fifty day simple moving average of $35.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.04.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released 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 return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, equities analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. Comcast’s payout ratio is 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.