Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Rating Increased to Neutral at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. BNP Paribas currently has $35.00 target price on the cable giant’s stock.

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

Comcast Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $33.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $128.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.61 and its 200 day moving average is $40.07. 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, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comcast news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 approximately $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Comcast by 77.2% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,182 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 6,179 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 14,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 18.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 832,594 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,810,000 after purchasing an additional 132,442 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 5.5% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 786,946 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,871,000 after purchasing an additional 41,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 211.7% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,890,571 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $120,739,000 after buying an additional 1,963,246 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.