Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Price Target Cut to $27.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research note published on Friday morning. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the cable giant’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Scotiabank set a $29.00 target price on Comcast in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Freedom Capital raised Comcast to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Comcast from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $23.00 price target on shares of Comcast and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.13.

Comcast Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $21.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.70. Comcast has a 1 year low of $21.28 and a 1 year high of $32.85. The stock has a market cap of $77.75 billion, a PE ratio of 7.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.68.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The cable giant reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $29.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.24 billion. Comcast had a net margin of 8.97% and a return on equity of 14.77%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Comcast will post 3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 7th. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 42.72%.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Comcast by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 186,805,081 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $5,583,604,000 after buying an additional 6,117,946 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Comcast by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 140,343,399 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $4,194,929,000 after acquiring an additional 24,166,881 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Comcast during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,498,626,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Comcast by 65.1% during 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. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Comcast by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,332,228 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,295,200,000 after buying an additional 3,952,642 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Comcast

Here are the key news stories impacting Comcast this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Comcast’s depressed valuation and cash flow remain potential supports for the stock. The company generated nearly $18 billion in free cash flow over the past year, while its low earnings multiple has prompted some investors to argue that the shares may be undervalued. Comcast stock could be undervalued article
• Positive Sentiment: Comcast’s FreeWheel advertising technology is developing tools to help connected-TV advertisers measure viewer attention and ad quality, which could support the company’s longer-term advertising prospects. Moffett Nathanson and Citi still maintain Buy ratings, despite reducing their price targets. Comcast advertising technology article
• Neutral Sentiment: Moffett Nathanson cut its price target from $52 to $43, and Citi reduced its target from $30 to $27.50, but both firms retained Buy ratings. The target reductions signal lower near-term expectations while indicating that analysts still see substantial recovery potential. Comcast price target changes
• Negative Sentiment: KeyBanc downgraded Comcast to Underweight and established an $18 price target, citing intensifying broadband competition from fiber providers such as AT&T and Verizon. The firm expects Comcast’s third-quarter broadband subscriber trends unlikely to improve year over year. KeyBanc Comcast downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn that Comcast may need to keep lowering broadband prices to defend its customer base, potentially pressuring revenue, margins and other key performance metrics. The concern has pushed the stock toward its lowest level in roughly 13 years. Comcast downgrade and price-target cuts

Comcast Company Profile

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is a global media and technology company that provides broadband, wireless, video, voice and related services to residential and business customers. Through its connectivity businesses, Comcast offers internet access, mobile service, pay television, telephone service, and home security and automation products, primarily under the Xfinity brand in the United States.

Comcast also operates a broad portfolio of entertainment and media businesses. NBCUniversal includes the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, cable networks, film and television studios, the Peacock streaming service, and a collection of theme parks.