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

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CMCSA. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.39.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $37.67 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.15 billion, a PE ratio of 10.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.99. Comcast has a one year low of $36.43 and a one year high of $47.11.

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 company had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’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 directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Comcast by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,396 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Old Port Advisors increased its position in shares of Comcast by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 6,910 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 28,498 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in Comcast by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 154,036 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $6,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 15.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after purchasing an additional 22,684 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.