Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CMCSA. BNP Paribas raised Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $33.19 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.00 billion, a PE ratio of 8.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $45.38.

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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 29.88%.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 269.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 365.4% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.