Comcast’s (CMCSA) Neutral Rating Reiterated at Macquarie

Macquarie restated their neutral rating on shares of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 price target on the cable giant’s stock.

CMCSA has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com lowered Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays cut their price target on Comcast from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Pivotal Research decreased their price objective on Comcast from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.63.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $43.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast has a fifty-two week low of $36.43 and a fifty-two week high of $47.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Comcast by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 115,703,280 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $5,015,737,000 after acquiring an additional 7,929,963 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Comcast by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 38,329,384 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,500,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,626 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Comcast by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,016,389 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,214,512,000 after buying an additional 8,243,302 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in Comcast by 25,881.7% during the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 10,850,995 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $470,391,000 after buying an additional 10,809,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Pacific Advisors LP increased its position in Comcast by 2.1% during the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 10,818,009 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $423,633,000 after buying an additional 219,894 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Comcast Company Profile

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.