Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $36.29 and last traded at $36.35, with a volume of 1329002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CMCSA shares. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank raised shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Comcast from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.33.

Comcast Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.99, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.25.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast Co. will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comcast during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Comcast by 365.4% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Comcast by 220.3% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.