Bilotti Touts Comcast

Influential Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. analyst Richard Bilotti upped his rating for Comcast Corp. last week from an "outperform" to a "strong buy," setting a price target of $52 per share for the stock. Comcast shares reacted accordingly, increasing $2.62 apiece, or 8 percent, to close at $34 on May 30. Comcast has been languishing for months, despite impressive growth. The stock-which hit a 52-week high of $57.68 Dec. 31-has been trading in the $30- to $39-per-share range the past month. Bilotti wrote that Comcast's stock is "trading at the low end of relative valuations, and we have a high degree of confidence in the execution skills of this management team."