Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target to $37.00

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price target cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $45.00 to $37.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the cable giant’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $33.66 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.07. Comcast has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $47.11. The company has a market capitalization of $128.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. 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 yield of 3.92%. Comcast’s payout ratio is 31.81%.

Insider Activity

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the 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 sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 0.8% during the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,584 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Taurus Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 2.9% in the 3rd 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 raised its holdings in Comcast by 3.1% during the third quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,445 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comcast by 4.7% in the third quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,829 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 2.0% during the third quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 13,554 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. 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.