Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Stake Cut by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 712,744 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,749 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Nexstar Media Group were worth $112,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 27,180.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,206,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,650,000 after buying an additional 1,202,453 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,102,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,103,000 after acquiring an additional 18,675 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 403,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,777,000 after purchasing an additional 19,116 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,460,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 277,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,656,000 after purchasing an additional 4,457 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 32,096 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.67, for a total transaction of $5,477,824.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 806,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $137,563,262.73. The trade was a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,768 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $685,700.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $983,601.90. This represents a 41.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,105 shares of company stock worth $6,722,463. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NXST opened at $181.86 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $163.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.52, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.09. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.04 and a 12 month high of $191.86.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $7.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.22 by ($1.66). The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 26.03%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. This is a boost from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NXST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.43.

About Nexstar Media Group

Nexstar Media Group, Inc operates as a diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports and entertainment content across the television and digital platforms in the United States. It owns, operates, programs, or provides sales and other services to various markets; and offers television programming services.