Rosenblatt Securities Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Stock Price

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price objective lowered by Rosenblatt Securities from $45.00 to $36.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the cable giant’s stock.

CMCSA has been the subject of several other reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped 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. BNP Paribas raised shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $33.19 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $38.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast has a 1-year low of $32.50 and a 1-year high of $45.38.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Comcast will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 29.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Comcast in the third quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 365.4% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.