StockNews.com Upgrades Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to “Strong-Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Comcast from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.33.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $36.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.18. Comcast has a 52 week low of $36.15 and a 52 week high of $47.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.97 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors 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 yield of 3.39%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 0.8% in the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,584 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,277,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,445 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,829 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 2.0% in the third quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 13,554 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $566,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.