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

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CMCSA. BNP Paribas cut Comcast from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective on the stock. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.78.

Comcast Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $40.73 on Tuesday. Comcast has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $159.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $39.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.62.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $29.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.02 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 77.2% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Comcast by 77.5% during the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,594,006 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $140,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,995 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 254,361 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $9,961,000 after purchasing an additional 43,110 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast in the 2nd quarter worth $952,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Comcast during the 2nd quarter worth $29,278,000. Hedge funds and other 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.