Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Given New $44.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price target reduced by Citigroup from $47.00 to $44.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the cable giant’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas raised Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. Bank of America cut Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA opened at $33.66 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. Comcast has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $47.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $38.61 and a 200-day moving average of $40.07. The stock has a market cap of $128.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.05, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.25 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 dividend yield of 3.92%. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 8,258,128 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after buying an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 530.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $143,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,885,370 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Comcast by 211.7% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,890,571 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $120,739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Comcast by 31.7% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $318,036,000 after acquiring an additional 1,833,453 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by 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.