Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target Lowered to $40.00 at UBS Group

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its target price cut by UBS Group from $47.00 to $40.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the cable giant’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on CMCSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America downgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Benchmark lowered their price target on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Macquarie reduced their price objective on Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.64.

Comcast Stock Up 0.9 %

CMCSA opened at $36.94 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.04. Comcast has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.31. The stock has a market cap of $139.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. As a group, research analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Comcast by 904.0% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after buying an additional 229,192 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at about $743,681,000. Bfsg LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 752.8% during the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 83,366 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,129,000 after purchasing an additional 73,590 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 43,509 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,633,000 after purchasing an additional 3,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robinson Value Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Comcast by 136.7% during the fourth quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 102,360 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,842,000 after purchasing an additional 59,107 shares during the last quarter. 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.