Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.50.

CMCSA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Comcast from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Macquarie decreased their price objective on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $34.15 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.49. The stock has a market cap of $129.12 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.94. Comcast has a 1 year low of $32.20 and a 1 year high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. Equities analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 31.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $5,317,167,000 after buying an additional 11,255,683 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at $3,835,226,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,212,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006,272 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its position in shares of Comcast by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 79,102,667 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,968,723,000 after purchasing an additional 5,039,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 50,320,446 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,890,027,000 after purchasing an additional 5,402,377 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.