Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twenty-eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have given a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.6442.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CMCSA. Seaport Research Partners upgraded Comcast from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $29.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Comcast from $35.50 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, New Street Research decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth about $2,498,626,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Comcast by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 140,343,399 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,194,929,000 after purchasing an additional 24,166,881 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 65.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 55,664,933 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,663,825,000 after buying an additional 21,958,603 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 824.4% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,616,490 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $333,509,000 after buying an additional 10,359,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in Comcast by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 180,687,135 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,677,190,000 after buying an additional 7,917,335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Comcast

Here are the key news stories impacting Comcast this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Scotiabank lowered its price target on Comcast to $32.75 from $36 and kept a sector perform rating, signaling more cautious near-term expectations. Scotiabank cuts Comcast target
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target to $28 from $29 and maintained an underweight rating, suggesting the firm still sees limited upside. Wells Fargo view on Comcast
• Negative Sentiment: BNP Paribas Exane cut its target to $22 from $25 and reiterated an underperform rating, adding to the bearish analyst sentiment around CMCSA. BNP Paribas Exane cuts Comcast target
• Negative Sentiment: Comcast agreed to a $117.5 million settlement over the Xfinity data breach, which adds legal, reputational, and governance overhangs for investors. Xfinity data breach settlement
• Negative Sentiment: Bernstein cut price targets across major telecom names, including Comcast, citing valuation risk tied to SpaceX/Starlink’s potential direct-to-consumer mobile plans. Bernstein cuts telecom targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Some recent commentary argues Comcast may be trading below fair value after a roughly 49% five-year slide, which could support a rebound if fundamentals stabilize. Fair value article
• Neutral Sentiment: One market update noted Comcast has recently outperformed the broader market, but the move appears modest and does not offset the more prominent analyst and legal concerns. Market performance article

Comcast Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $23.49 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.91 billion, a PE ratio of 4.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.67. Comcast has a 52-week low of $22.13 and a 52-week high of $36.01. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.08 and its 200 day moving average is $27.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The cable giant reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $31.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.42 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 15.00%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

About Comcast

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.