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 changed hands during 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

CMCSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com cut Comcast from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Comcast from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comcast presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.50.

Comcast Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $157.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $41.89 and a 200 day moving average of $42.76.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The cable giant reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $31.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.41 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 19.75% and a net margin of 12.66%. On average, equities analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 114,749 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.10, for a total transaction of $5,289,928.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comcast

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comcast during the 1st quarter valued at about $438,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Comcast by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,222 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 18,868 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Comcast by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 9,968 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Comcast during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 84.32% of the stock is currently owned by 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.