StockNews.com Downgrades Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to Buy

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Comcast from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Comcast from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Comcast from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $47.75 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.06.

Comcast Price Performance

CMCSA traded down $0.46 during trading on Thursday, hitting $37.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,608,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,663,998. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.99. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $42.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.30. Comcast has a twelve month low of $36.43 and a twelve month high of $47.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.78 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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 stock was 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 trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total value of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CMCSA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Comcast by 55,334.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 5.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $4,904,647,000 after acquiring an additional 6,062,658 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 92.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,722,620 shares of the cable giant's stock worth $339,223,000 after purchasing an additional 4,182,525 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Comcast by 530.5% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $143,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885,370 shares during the period. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Comcast by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 9,500,000 shares of the cable giant's stock valued at $372,020,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000,000 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Company Profile

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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