StockNews.com Downgrades Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday.

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective 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. Scotiabank raised shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.19.

Comcast Stock Down 0.7 %

Comcast stock opened at $42.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $162.82 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $42.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.24. Comcast has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in Comcast by 2.2% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 154,036 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $6,434,000 after acquiring an additional 3,323 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 15.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after buying an additional 22,684 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 904.0% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after buying an additional 229,192 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 0.6% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 763,784 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $33,202,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.