The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target to $44.00

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price target cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $50.00 to $44.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the cable giant’s stock.

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $33.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $128.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.05, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $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 has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $47.11.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is 31.81%.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm’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 owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Comcast by 269.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Comcast during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Comcast by 365.4% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Company Profile

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.