Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Stock Price Up 0.6%

Shares of Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) shot up 0.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $40.03 and last traded at $39.87. 4,377,697 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 20,389,197 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on CMCSA. StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $50.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Comcast from $55.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.74.

Comcast Trading Up 1.6 %

The company has a market cap of $159.83 billion, a PE ratio of 10.82, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.71.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $31.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.41 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total transaction of $5,289,928.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 107,773,317 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,725,926,000 after purchasing an additional 15,625,543 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,542,988,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 53,653,778 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,876,273,000 after acquiring an additional 7,084,451 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 46,019,891 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,040,522,000 after purchasing an additional 141,874 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Comcast by 0.4% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 42,448,741 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,245,022,000 after acquiring an additional 189,845 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Company Profile

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.