Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Reaches New 12-Month Low - What's Next?

Key Points

• New 52-week low: Comcast shares dropped to a new 52-week low of $25.72 (last $25.605) on Friday, trading heavily after a prior close of $26.24.
• Analyst consensus: The Street’s average rating is a "Hold" with an average price target of $34.94 (8 Buys, 15 Holds, 2 Sells), and recent price targets range from about $29 to $39.
• Fundamentals and insider activity: Comcast beat estimates with $0.79 EPS vs. $0.73 and $31.46B revenue, while CEO Michael Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares in February; insiders own 1.4% and institutions own roughly 84.3% of the stock.

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $25.72 and last traded at $25.6050, with a volume of 5372225 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.24.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America upgraded Comcast from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Comcast to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.94.

Comcast Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $91.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.04, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The cable giant reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $31.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $30.42 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 15.00%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Comcast Corporation will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $1,892,549.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 622,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,325,493.76. This trade represents a 8.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMCSA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Comcast by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 369,311,219 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $11,038,712,000 after buying an additional 2,160,829 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Comcast by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 186,805,081 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $5,583,604,000 after acquiring an additional 6,117,946 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Comcast by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 140,343,399 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $4,194,929,000 after acquiring an additional 24,166,881 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in Comcast by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 112,967,514 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $3,376,599,000 after acquiring an additional 399,596 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Comcast by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 89,913,362 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $2,680,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465,428 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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