Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Stock Price Up 0.2%

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) rose 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $39.42 and last traded at $39.18. Approximately 3,520,518 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 20,437,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. BNP Paribas restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $50.00 to $44.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.50.

Comcast Trading Down 0.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $154.62 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.98. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $41.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.79.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $31.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.41 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 12.66%. On average, analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,542,988,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 121,265.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,530,426 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $892,799,000 after buying an additional 25,509,390 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Comcast by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 107,773,317 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,725,926,000 after buying an additional 15,625,543 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Comcast by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 53,653,778 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,876,273,000 after acquiring an additional 7,084,451 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Comcast by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,433,598 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,422,218,000 after acquiring an additional 6,098,115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.