Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target Cut to $25.00 by Analysts at BNP Paribas Exane

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price target trimmed by BNP Paribas Exane from $26.00 to $25.00 in a report released on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the cable giant’s stock.

CMCSA has been the subject of several other reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Comcast from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Comcast in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Comcast to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Comcast from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $31.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.68.

Comcast Stock Performance

CMCSA stock opened at $27.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $100.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.21, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.27. Comcast has a one year low of $25.75 and a one year high of $36.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The cable giant reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $32.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.35 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.58%.

Insider Activity at Comcast

In related news, CEO Michael J. Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total value of $1,892,549.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 622,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,325,493.76. This trade represents a 8.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Comcast by 150.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 166,265 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $6,240,000 after purchasing an additional 99,986 shares during the last quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Comcast by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 83,883 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,963,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares during the last quarter. United Bank raised its position in shares of Comcast by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 42,216 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,290 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Comcast by 154.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 462,512 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $16,507,000 after purchasing an additional 280,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Comcast by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 11,407 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Company Profile

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.