Loop Capital Cuts Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target to $53.00

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Loop Capital from $54.00 to $53.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Loop Capital currently has a buy rating on the cable giant's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CMCSA. Pivotal Research increased their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Comcast from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Macquarie increased their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.39.

Comcast Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Comcast stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $37.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,780,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,704,725. The company has a market capitalization of $143.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.99. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.41 and a 200 day moving average of $40.27. Comcast has a 12 month low of $36.43 and a 12 month high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The cable giant reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The company had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Comcast's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other Comcast news, 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 sale, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. This trade represents a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 904.0% in the third 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. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Comcast by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 171,440 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $7,161,000 after acquiring an additional 22,684 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Comcast by 3.7% during the 3rd 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 grew its stake 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 worth $92,331,000 after acquiring an additional 15,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 3,816.0% in the second 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. 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.