Brokerages Set Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Target Price at $34.56

Shares of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty-seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $34.50.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CMCSA. Scotiabank increased their price target on Comcast from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. New Street Research decreased their price target on Comcast from $36.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Evercore increased their price target on Comcast from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on Comcast from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Comcast from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA stock opened at $22.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.19. Comcast has a fifty-two week low of $22.38 and a fifty-two week high of $36.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The cable giant reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.06. Comcast had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 15.00%.The business had revenue of $31.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. Comcast’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Comcast in the 4th quarter worth about $2,498,626,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Comcast by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 140,343,399 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,194,929,000 after acquiring an additional 24,166,881 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Comcast by 65.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 55,664,933 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,663,825,000 after acquiring an additional 21,958,603 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Comcast by 824.4% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 11,616,490 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $333,509,000 after acquiring an additional 10,359,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Comcast by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 180,687,135 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,677,190,000 after acquiring an additional 7,917,335 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is a diversified global media and technology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal operations are organized around Comcast Cable, which provides broadband internet, video, voice and wireless services to residential and business customers in the United States under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands, and NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment group that develops, produces and distributes content across broadcast and cable networks, film, and streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal’s assets include the NBC broadcast network, a portfolio of cable channels, Universal Pictures and other film and television production businesses, and the Peacock streaming service.