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

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at Benchmark from $57.00 to $55.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the cable giant's stock. Benchmark's price target points to a potential upside of 62.56% from the company's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America cut Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a report on Monday, January 6th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.84.

Comcast Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of CMCSA stock traded up $0.58 on Friday, hitting $33.83. The stock had a trading volume of 12,009,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,649,693. Comcast has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock's 50 day moving average is $38.80 and its 200-day moving average is $40.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) 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 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. As a group, research analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the firm'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 value of $1,087,620.83. Following the sale, the president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. KLCM Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 8,593 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 96.1% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,923 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,902 shares during the period. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 16,912 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 9,452 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,930 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. 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.

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