Evercore ISI Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Evercore ISI reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in a research report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 price target on the cable giant’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Comcast from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Comcast from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Comcast from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $49.68.

Comcast Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CMCSA opened at $43.35 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.98. Comcast has a 12-month low of $36.38 and a 12-month high of $47.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $43.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.22.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.04. Comcast had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 19.75%. The company had revenue of $31.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.41 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.3 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 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 31.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total value of $5,289,928.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 94.1% in the 3rd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 623 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its stake in Comcast by 299.1% during the 4th quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 634,727 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 475,675 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.