Comcast price target lowered to $43 from $50 at Argus

Argus analyst Joseph Bonner lowered the firm’s price target on Comcast (CMCSA) to $43 from $50 but keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Weak macroeconomic environment and higher interest rates have led to a decline in residential move activity, which has been a prime source of gross customer additions for the strategically important core cable broadband business, while competition is also intensifying as telecommunications companies overbuild Comcast service territory with competing broadband networks, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Argus adds however that Comcast is responding to these challenges by segmenting its market approach to appeal to both the premium and discount ends of the market while strengthening its technology base, also noting that Comcast’s wireless business continues to grow nicely, providing another key part of the company’s bundle of services.