Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Down 6.6% – Here’s Why

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) fell 6.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $24.66 and last traded at $24.5850. 18,843,127 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 32,684,826 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank set a $29.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $29.00 price objective on Comcast in a report on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Comcast from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $26.00 price target on Comcast and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Comcast and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.96.

Comcast Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $87.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.38.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.07. Comcast had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 8.97%.The firm had revenue of $29.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Comcast Corporation will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 7th. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 42.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Comcast by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 186,805,081 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,583,604,000 after acquiring an additional 6,117,946 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Comcast by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 140,343,399 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,194,929,000 after purchasing an additional 24,166,881 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 2,287.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 139,632,225 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $3,427,971,000 after purchasing an additional 133,783,856 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in shares of Comcast by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 112,967,514 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $3,376,599,000 after buying an additional 399,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comcast by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 89,913,362 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,680,747,000 after buying an additional 1,465,428 shares during the period. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comcast Company Profile

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is a global media and technology company that provides broadband, wireless, video, voice and related services to residential and business customers. Through its connectivity businesses, Comcast offers internet access, mobile service, pay television, telephone service, and home security and automation products, primarily under the Xfinity brand in the United States.

Comcast also operates a broad portfolio of entertainment and media businesses. NBCUniversal includes the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, cable networks, film and television studios, the Peacock streaming service, and a collection of theme parks.