Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-nine research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have given a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.8661.

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $58.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (up from $32.79) on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, January 30th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Comcast from $37.50 to $35.25 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Comcast from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other news, CEO Michael J. Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total transaction of $1,892,549.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 622,336 shares in the company, valued at $20,325,493.76. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Comcast by 150.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 166,265 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $6,240,000 after acquiring an additional 99,986 shares during the period. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Comcast by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 83,883 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,963,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its holdings in Comcast by 11.3% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 42,216 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 4,290 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lifted its position in Comcast by 5.6% during the second quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 16,880 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $602,000 after buying an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its stake in Comcast by 149.8% during the second quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 23,231 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 13,932 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Comcast stock opened at $31.60 on Friday. Comcast has a fifty-two week low of $25.75 and a fifty-two week high of $37.97. The company has a market capitalization of $113.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.88, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The cable giant reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.09. Comcast had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 16.17%.The firm had revenue of $32.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $32.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.58%.

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.