Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Given New $45.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $46.00 to $45.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the cable giant’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CMCSA. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of 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 report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.33.

Comcast Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $37.49 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $143.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.08, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast has a fifty-two week low of $36.43 and a fifty-two week high of $47.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.30.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Comcast by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,584 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 2.9% during the third quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,125 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 3.1% during the third quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,445 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 4.7% in the third quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,829 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenwich Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 2.7% in the second quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,754 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.