Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.08 EPS

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08, Zacks reports. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $33.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $127.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast has a 12 month low of $32.50 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CMCSA. KeyCorp upped their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research increased their price target on shares of Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas raised Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. Barclays raised their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast 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 owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% 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.