Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twenty-nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $34.7143.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Comcast from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Comcast from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Comcast to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Comcast from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA opened at $27.93 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.80. Comcast has a 52-week low of $25.75 and a 52-week high of $36.66.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $32.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.35 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.58%.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other news, CEO Michael J. Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total value of $1,892,549.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 622,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,325,493.76. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Comcast by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 12,275 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Comcast by 2.6% during the third quarter. Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. now owns 13,636 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 7,532 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,013 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 0.5% during the third quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 82,778 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,601,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Company Profile

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is a diversified global media and technology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal operations are organized around Comcast Cable, which provides broadband internet, video, voice and wireless services to residential and business customers in the United States under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands, and NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment group that develops, produces and distributes content across broadcast and cable networks, film, and streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal’s assets include the NBC broadcast network, a portfolio of cable channels, Universal Pictures and other film and television production businesses, and the Peacock streaming service.