Comcast’s (CMCSA) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Macquarie

Macquarie reissued their neutral rating on shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Macquarie currently has a $42.00 price target on the cable giant’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on CMCSA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley downgraded Comcast from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.33.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $37.49 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $143.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $41.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.30. Comcast has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.26 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 22,724 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,431 shares in the last quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. increased its position in Comcast by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $151,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 18,481 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $693,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Comcast by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,396 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Old Port Advisors grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 6,910 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.