Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target to $45.00

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $46.00 to $45.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the cable giant’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 4th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Macquarie lifted their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.33.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $37.17 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.27. The company has a market cap of $142.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast has a 12-month low of $36.24 and a 12-month 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 posted its quarterly 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. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. The firm had revenue of $32.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Comcast’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Comcast will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 8th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 8th. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other news, 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 completion of 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 represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast during the third quarter worth $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Comcast by 365.4% in the 3rd 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 period. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 220.3% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 759 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 54.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 814 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.