Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Receives $43.83 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.83.

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $35.10 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.52. The firm has a market cap of $132.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 31.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 904.0% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 752.8% in the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,129,000 after purchasing an additional 73,590 shares in the last quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 136.7% in the 4th quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,842,000 after purchasing an additional 59,107 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 15.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,161,000 after acquiring an additional 22,684 shares during the period. Finally, Private Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 855,787 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,118,000 after acquiring an additional 24,827 shares during the period. 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.