Scotiabank Lowers Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target to $47.25

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price target dropped by analysts at Scotiabank from $50.00 to $47.25 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the cable giant’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 22.50% from the company’s current price.

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.45.

Comcast Price Performance

Comcast stock opened at $38.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.59. Comcast has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.58 and a 200-day moving average of $42.56.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The cable giant reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 20.10% and a net margin of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $30.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. Comcast’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the company’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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,542,988,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Comcast by 17.0% during 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 during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Comcast by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,065,475 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $446,303,000 after buying an additional 2,861,358 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 116.8% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 5,145,838 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $227,034,000 after buying an additional 2,772,190 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in Comcast by 215.7% during the 4th quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,622,246 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $158,835,000 after buying an additional 2,474,946 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.