Pivotal Research Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Stock

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its target price upped by Pivotal Research from $47.00 to $54.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the cable giant’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on CMCSA. Barclays decreased their price target on Comcast from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.75.

Comcast Price Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $42.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $164.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast has a 12 month low of $36.43 and a 12 month high of $47.11. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Comcast’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.5% during the second quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,027 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its stake in Comcast by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 191,846 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,513,000 after purchasing an additional 15,664 shares during the period. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in Comcast in the 1st quarter valued at $4,117,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its position in Comcast by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $92,331,000 after buying an additional 15,807 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 3,816.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 558,382 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $21,866,000 after buying an additional 544,123 shares in the last quarter. 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.