Brokerages Set Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Target Price at $47.19

Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $47.19.

CMCSA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie lifted their target price on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com cut Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Comcast Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $39.92 on Wednesday. Comcast has a fifty-two week low of $36.43 and a fifty-two week high of $47.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $152.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.33 and a 200 day moving average of $40.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 28,498 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,190,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Comcast by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 154,036 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $6,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,323 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 15.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $7,161,000 after buying an additional 22,684 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 904.0% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after acquiring an additional 229,192 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.