Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target Lowered to $36.00 at Macquarie

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price objective cut by Macquarie from $42.00 to $36.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the cable giant’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $33.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $47.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.07.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Comcast news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’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 value of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 269.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Comcast by 365.4% in the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.