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

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)’s share price dropped 6.6% 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Comcast from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Barclays set a $26.00 price target on Comcast and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Comcast from $35.50 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 29th. New Street Research cut their price objective on shares of Comcast from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $26.00 price objective on Comcast and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Comcast presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.96.

Comcast Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $89.32 billion, a PE ratio of 8.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.29.

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

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 7th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Saudi Central Bank lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 87.2% in the 2nd quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 251,190 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $6,167,000 after purchasing an additional 117,038 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,754,000. Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in Comcast in the first quarter worth approximately $660,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Comcast by 10.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 40,864,921 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,173,232,000 after buying an additional 3,783,234 shares during the period. Finally, PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 875,247 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $21,487,000 after acquiring an additional 62,671 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.