Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Upgraded at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $35.00 target price on the cable giant’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

Comcast Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of CMCSA opened at $33.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $128.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.05, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $47.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $38.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. On average, analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.25 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.81%.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 269.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by 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.