Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Macquarie lifted their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley cut Comcast from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.06.

Comcast Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $37.93 on Friday. Comcast has a 1-year low of $36.43 and a 1-year high of $47.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.99.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In related news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in Comcast during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position 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 acquired a new stake in Comcast in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp raised its position in Comcast by 177.1% in the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 812 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.