Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target on the cable giant’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 15.12% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CMCSA. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $55.00 to $53.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Macquarie decreased their target price on Comcast from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Comcast from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.62.

Comcast Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $38.22 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.46. The company has a market capitalization of $149.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast has a 12 month low of $36.43 and a 12 month high of $47.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 12.64%. The business had revenue of $30.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In related news, major shareholder Corp Comcast sold 3,176,923 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.19, for a total transaction of $10,134,384.37. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,380,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Luken Investment Analytics LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 258.0% during the 1st quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC now owns 580 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the period. Steph & Co. boosted its stake in Comcast by 154.6% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 611 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. grew its position in Comcast by 299.1% during the 4th quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 634,727 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 475,675 shares in the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 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.