Morgan Stanley Downgrades Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to Equal Weight

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was downgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $45.00 price target on the cable giant’s stock, down from their prior price target of $48.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.90% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Macquarie increased their target price on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.06.

Comcast Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA traded down $0.41 on Monday, hitting $39.51. 2,056,999 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,563,529. The company has a market cap of $151.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.35. Comcast has a 52 week low of $36.43 and a 52 week high of $47.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction 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 sale 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at $22,779,218.91. The trade was 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Comcast by 904.0% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 254,545 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 229,192 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 3.7% in the third quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,920,800 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $80,232,000 after acquiring an additional 68,139 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Comcast by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 2,210,469 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $92,331,000 after purchasing an additional 15,807 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in shares of Comcast by 3,816.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 558,382 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $21,866,000 after purchasing an additional 544,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $7,161,000 after purchasing an additional 22,684 shares in the last quarter. 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.