Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CMCSA. Macquarie dropped their price target on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Pivotal Research lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.13.

Comcast Stock Down 1.4 %

CMCSA traded down $0.47 during trading on Monday, hitting $33.19. 45,403,084 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,842,316. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.00, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.07. Comcast has a 12-month low of $32.50 and a 12-month high of $45.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. This represents a 4.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. 44 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 57,802 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,169,000 after buying an additional 634 shares during the period. Cypress Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Comcast by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Capital LLC now owns 57,024 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $2,140,000 after buying an additional 1,539 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in Comcast by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 15,551 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 3,362 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Comcast by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 165,988 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $6,230,000 after acquiring an additional 14,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Associates Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Investment Management Associates Inc. ADV now owns 221,933 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $8,329,000 after purchasing an additional 2,696 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.