Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Given New $54.00 Price Target at Pivotal Research

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price objective lifted by Pivotal Research from $47.00 to $54.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Pivotal Research currently has a buy rating on the cable giant’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on CMCSA. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com cut Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.63.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.56. The company had a trading volume of 25,078,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,681,141. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 12.46%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s payout ratio is 32.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 220.3% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. IAG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 204.7% during the 2nd quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 777 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in Comcast by 177.1% during the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 812 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.