Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Arete Research

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Arete Research to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on CMCSA. BNP Paribas downgraded Comcast from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group set a $44.50 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $37.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, April 25th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.96.

Comcast Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of CMCSA opened at $35.42 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $34.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.46. 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 has a market cap of $132.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.95. Comcast has a 52 week low of $31.44 and a 52 week high of $45.31.

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

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 141,680,277 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $5,317,167,000 after purchasing an additional 11,255,683 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,835,226,000. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in Comcast by 19.1% in the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 94,217,741 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $3,476,635,000 after buying an additional 15,115,074 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 85,812,139 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $3,212,244,000 after buying an additional 1,006,272 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Comcast by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 50,320,446 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $1,890,027,000 after buying an additional 5,402,377 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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