Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Comcast from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Comcast from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Evercore upped their price target on Comcast from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on Comcast from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Comcast in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.32.

Comcast Trading Up 6.9%

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

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The cable giant reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $31.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.42 billion. Comcast had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 15.00%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Corporation will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Comcast Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. Comcast’s payout ratio is currently 25.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Comcast by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 7,532 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,013 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. FSA Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Comcast by 5.5% in the third quarter. FSA Advisors Inc. now owns 7,203 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its position in Comcast by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 5,479 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC raised its position in Comcast by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 2,801 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.