Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stock Holdings in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,466 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,798 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Nexstar Media Group were worth $7,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NXST. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 16.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 45,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,448,000 after purchasing an additional 6,475 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,747,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Nexstar Media Group during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 57.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NXST opened at $147.50 on Friday. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a one year low of $143.32 and a one year high of $191.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.53, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $163.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $7.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.22 by ($1.66). Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.04%. This is an increase from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is currently 34.56%.

Insider Transactions at Nexstar Media Group

In other Nexstar Media Group news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 32,096 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 806,019 shares in the company, valued at $137,563,262.73. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were 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 owns 5,405 shares in the company, valued at $983,601.90. This represents a 41.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,105 shares of company stock worth $6,722,463. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NXST shares. Benchmark lifted their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital raised Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.