Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday. The brokerage issued an equal weight rating and a $31.00 price target on the cable giant’s stock.

CMCSA has been the topic of several other research reports. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on Comcast from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Comcast from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Comcast from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Comcast from $35.25 to $34.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Benchmark cut their price target on Comcast from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.81.

Comcast Stock Up 3.7%

Shares of CMCSA opened at $29.35 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $30.02 and its 200 day moving average is $29.15. The company has a market capitalization of $105.60 billion, a PE ratio of 5.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.80. Comcast has a 12-month low of $25.75 and a 12-month high of $36.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $32.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $32.35 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 16.17%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. Research analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Comcast’s payout ratio is 24.58%.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In other news, CEO Michael J. Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total value of $1,892,549.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 622,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,325,493.76. The trade was a 8.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 150.9% during the 4th 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. boosted its holdings in Comcast by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 83,883 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,593 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its holdings in Comcast by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 42,216 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 4,290 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 119.4% during the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,974 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $606,000 after acquiring an additional 9,236 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 66.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,607 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 15,865 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.