Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.10.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CMCSA shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Comcast from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Comcast from $55.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $44.50 target price (down from $45.00) on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs purchased a new position in Comcast in the first quarter valued at $4,907,000. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in Comcast in the first quarter valued at $167,000. First Hawaiian Bank grew its position in shares of Comcast by 13.1% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 186,780 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $6,892,000 after purchasing an additional 21,652 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 45.5% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,892 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Comcast by 35.3% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,456 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 3,769 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company's stock.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $35.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $34.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.61. Comcast has a one year low of $31.44 and a one year high of $45.31. The firm has a market cap of $131.87 billion, a PE ratio of 8.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.95.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The cable giant reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 19.70%. The firm had revenue of $29.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Comcast's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.43%.

About Comcast

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.

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