The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Stock Price

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its target price cut by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $50.00 to $44.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the cable giant’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 30.72% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Monday, January 6th. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating 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 objective for the company in a research note on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

Comcast Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $33.66 on Friday. Comcast has a fifty-two week low of $32.50 and a fifty-two week high of $47.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $38.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $128.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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 research analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction 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 $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Comcast by 77.2% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,182 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 6,179 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 4.6% in the third quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 14,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 18.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 832,594 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $34,810,000 after acquiring an additional 132,442 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in Comcast by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 786,946 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,871,000 after purchasing an additional 41,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 211.7% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,890,571 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $120,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.