Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the thirty-four research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nineteen have given a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $34.9839.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Comcast from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Monday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Comcast from $38.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Barclays set a $28.00 price target on shares of Comcast and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Comcast from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st.

Comcast Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $28.42 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $28.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.90. Comcast has a 52-week low of $25.75 and a 52-week high of $38.40. The firm has a market cap of $103.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.73, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.81.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $31.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.74 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 18.06% and a net margin of 18.33%.The company’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 14th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 21.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Comcast by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 369,438,921 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $13,185,275,000 after buying an additional 1,257,196 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Comcast by 4.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 180,687,135 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,677,190,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,335 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in Comcast by 1.2% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 112,567,918 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,536,884,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295,598 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Comcast in the second quarter valued at about $3,528,361,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Comcast by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,154,170 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,289,984,000 after purchasing an additional 2,517,906 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.