Nicholas Company Inc. Increases Position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

Nicholas Company Inc. lifted its position in Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) by 41.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 184,153 shares of the cable giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,878 shares during the period. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Comcast were worth $6,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CMCSA. GWN Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Comcast during the fourth quarter worth $396,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 23,493 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $882,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,602 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,467 shares during the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 37,179 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Enterprises LLC boosted its position in shares of Comcast by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 14,627 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comcast Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of Comcast stock opened at $35.43 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comcast Co. has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The company has a market cap of $133.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.54, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.00.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 13.09% and a return on equity of 19.98%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Comcast Co. will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CMCSA shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Comcast from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Comcast from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank lowered shares of Comcast from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $44.50 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Comcast from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comcast from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Comcast currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

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.