Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Upgraded by Bank of America to “Buy” Rating

Bank of America upgraded shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $37.00 price target on the cable giant’s stock, up from their prior price target of $31.00.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Loop Capital cut their target price on Comcast from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Comcast from $40.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Arete downgraded Comcast from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $23.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.05.

Comcast Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $29.06 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Comcast has a 1 year low of $25.75 and a 1 year high of $38.40. The firm has a market cap of $105.89 billion, a PE ratio of 4.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.81.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $31.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.74 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 18.33% and a return on equity of 18.06%. The company’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast 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, February 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 14th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Comcast’s payout ratio is 21.96%.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Comcast by 173.7% in the second quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 687 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 86.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 757 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 906.8% in the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 745 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the period. Finally, Avalon Trust Co increased its position in Comcast by 433.3% in the 2nd quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 768 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.