Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Stock Price Up 1.6%

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)’s stock price rose 1.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $39.63 and last traded at $39.62. Approximately 2,925,791 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 20,441,336 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CMCSA. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on Comcast from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Comcast from $55.00 to $53.00 in a report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com cut Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.50.

Comcast Stock Up 1.4 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $157.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.98.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.04. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 12.66%. The business had revenue of $31.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.41 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. This is a positive change from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Comcast’s payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other Comcast news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total value of $5,289,928.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Steph & Co. lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 154.6% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 611 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 94.1% in the third quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 623 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Quilter Plc bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the first quarter worth $695,100,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

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.