Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target Lowered to $39.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price target decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $45.00 to $39.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the cable giant’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp upped their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Benchmark decreased their price objective on Comcast from $57.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

Comcast Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $33.66 on Friday. Comcast has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $38.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $128.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.05, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Comcast will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comcast

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the president now owns 534,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total value of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,669,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in Comcast by 77.2% during the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,182 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 6,179 shares during the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 4.6% during the third quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 14,581 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $609,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Comcast by 18.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 832,594 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $34,810,000 after purchasing an additional 132,442 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Comcast by 5.5% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 786,946 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $32,871,000 after purchasing an additional 41,061 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 211.7% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,890,571 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $120,739,000 after buying an additional 1,963,246 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.