Benchmark Lowers Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target to $55.00

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price target reduced by equities research analysts at Benchmark from $57.00 to $55.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the cable giant’s stock. Benchmark’s target price indicates a potential upside of 62.56% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on CMCSA. Scotiabank raised shares of Comcast from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $47.75 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Comcast from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.84.

Comcast Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMCSA traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.83. 12,009,645 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,649,693. The company has a market cap of $129.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.10, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Comcast has a twelve month low of $32.50 and a twelve month high of $47.11. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.11.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.81% and a net margin of 11.92%. As a group, analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at $284,539,128.48. The trade was a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 269.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 688 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Comcast by 365.4% during the third quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 726 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Comcast in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Company Profile

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.