Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $23.17, but opened at $27.05. Comcast shares last traded at $25.1910, with a volume of 44,355,953 shares trading hands.

More Comcast News

Here are the key news stories impacting Comcast this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A connectivity-focused company containing Comcast’s cable, wireless, and business services operations.
• Positive Sentiment: A media/entertainment company holding NBCUniversal, Sky, Universal theme parks, film and TV studios, NBC, and Peacock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CMCSA. New Street Research cut their target price on shares of Comcast from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Comcast in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on Comcast from $35.50 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Comcast from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on Comcast from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.32.

Comcast Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $88.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.04.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The cable giant reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.06. Comcast had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business had revenue of $31.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. Comcast’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Comcast Corporation will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.98%.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comcast by 150.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 166,265 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $6,240,000 after buying an additional 99,986 shares during the last quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Comcast by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 83,883 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $2,963,000 after buying an additional 2,593 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in Comcast by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 42,216 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 4,290 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Comcast by 119.4% in the 2nd quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,974 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 9,236 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Comcast by 66.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 39,607 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 15,865 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.32% of the company’s stock.

About Comcast

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.