UBS Group Cuts Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target to $40.00

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its target price trimmed by UBS Group from $47.00 to $40.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the cable giant’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CMCSA. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lowered shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $44.50 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Comcast from $42.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.64.

Comcast Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CMCSA opened at $37.37 on Tuesday. Comcast has a one year low of $32.50 and a one year high of $45.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.00, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.98% and a net margin of 13.09%. As a group, analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 269.9% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Comcast during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Comcast during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Comcast in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.