Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on CMCSA. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.33.

Comcast Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of CMCSA opened at $36.58 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.16. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $139.97 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast has a 12-month low of $36.15 and a 12-month high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comcast news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction 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 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 55,334.5% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Comcast by 5.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062,658 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comcast by 92.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,722,620 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $339,223,000 after purchasing an additional 4,182,525 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Comcast by 530.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $143,242,000 after buying an additional 2,885,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP boosted its position in Comcast by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 9,500,000 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $372,020,000 after buying an additional 2,000,000 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is 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.