Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Stock Price

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price target decreased by Barclays from $42.00 to $37.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the cable giant’s stock.

CMCSA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Comcast to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.13.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA opened at $33.94 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. Comcast has a 52 week low of $32.50 and a 52 week high of $45.31.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. On average, equities analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.33 dividend. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 29.88%.

Insider Transactions at Comcast

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the president now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Comcast in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 365.4% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. 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.