Macquarie Raises Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target to $42.00

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price objective increased by Macquarie from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the cable giant’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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 report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Comcast from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.19.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $42.99 on Monday. Comcast has a 12-month low of $36.43 and a 12-month high of $47.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.50 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in Comcast by 8.0% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 47,974 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,080,000 after buying an additional 3,553 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 50.1% during the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 46,838 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,030,000 after acquiring an additional 15,634 shares during the last quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 8.1% during the first quarter. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC now owns 5,976 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 4.7% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 59,903 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,597,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714 shares during the last quarter. Finally, InterOcean Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 6.0% during the first quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 11,109 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. 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.