Brokerages Set Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Target Price at $45.58

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.58.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,056,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 11,304,304 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $495,694,000 after buying an additional 368,685 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,027 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its stake in Comcast by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 191,846 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,513,000 after acquiring an additional 15,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its position in Comcast by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 15,613 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $41.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $163.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $39.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.55. Comcast has a 12 month low of $36.43 and a 12 month high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $29.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.02 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 12.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.80%.

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.