Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank raised shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.19.

Comcast Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $42.79 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.26. Comcast has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.11. The company has a market cap of $163.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.99. 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 (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,027 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 3.7% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $80,232,000 after buying an additional 68,139 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 0.7% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Comcast by 3,816.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 558,382 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $21,866,000 after buying an additional 544,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in Comcast by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 9,500,000 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $372,020,000 after buying an additional 2,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.