Macquarie Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by Macquarie in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $42.00 price objective on the cable giant’s stock. Macquarie’s target price points to a potential upside of 12.96% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on CMCSA. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank upgraded Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.33.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $37.18 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $142.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast has a 52-week low of $36.43 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.29. 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 data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast 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 owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 223,567 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $8,390,000 after buying an additional 15,305 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 20,690 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida increased its position in Comcast by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 22,724 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 2,431 shares during the period. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently 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.