Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Up 7.1% Following Earnings Beat

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) shares traded up 7.1% during trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $31.62 and last traded at $31.4530. 9,770,617 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 32,693,549 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.37.

The cable giant reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $31.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.42 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 16.17% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share.

Comcast Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Comcast from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Comcast from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (up from $32.79) on shares of Comcast in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Comcast in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Comcast from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comcast news, CEO Michael J. Cavanagh sold 57,947 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.66, for a total transaction of $1,892,549.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 622,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,325,493.76. This represents a 8.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comcast

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Comcast in the fourth quarter worth $2,498,626,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Comcast by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 140,343,399 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,194,929,000 after buying an additional 24,166,881 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Comcast by 65.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 55,664,933 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,663,825,000 after buying an additional 21,958,603 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Comcast by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 180,687,135 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $5,677,190,000 after buying an additional 7,917,335 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Comcast by 2,970.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,394,728 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $221,028,000 after acquiring an additional 7,153,895 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $114.06 billion, a PE ratio of 5.89, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.82 and its 200-day moving average is $29.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Comcast Company Profile

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is a diversified global media and technology company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its principal operations are organized around Comcast Cable, which provides broadband internet, video, voice and wireless services to residential and business customers in the United States under the Xfinity and Comcast Business brands, and NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment group that develops, produces and distributes content across broadcast and cable networks, film, and streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal’s assets include the NBC broadcast network, a portfolio of cable channels, Universal Pictures and other film and television production businesses, and the Peacock streaming service.