Brokerages Set Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Target Price at $43.83

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.83.

CMCSA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Scotiabank cut shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in Comcast by 18.9% during 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 5,414.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,507,285 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $62,959,000 after buying an additional 1,479,954 shares during the period. Country Club Bank increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 1.5% during the third quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 21,183 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $882,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 10.6% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 23,070 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $964,000 after buying an additional 2,211 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 4,108.2% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 8,248 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 8,052 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $35.90 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $135.72 billion, a PE ratio of 8.65, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $36.32 and a 200 day moving average of $39.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. Comcast has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. As a group, research analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.81%.

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.