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

Macquarie restated their neutral rating on shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $42.00 price objective on the cable giant’s stock.

CMCSA has been the topic of several other reports. 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. 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. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.33.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $37.17 on Monday. Comcast has a 52-week low of $36.24 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.96 and a 200-day moving average of $40.27. The company has a market capitalization of $142.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $10,002,234.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % 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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 904.0% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 15.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after acquiring an additional 22,684 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $80,232,000 after acquiring an additional 68,139 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $92,331,000 after acquiring an additional 15,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Comcast by 3,816.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 558,382 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $21,866,000 after purchasing an additional 544,123 shares during the last quarter. 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.