Legal & General Group Plc Sells 3,798 Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its position in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,466 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,798 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.16% of Nexstar Media Group worth $7,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Nexstar Media Group by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 883 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NXST opened at $147.50 on Friday. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $143.32 and a 1-year high of $191.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.68.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. As a group, analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.04%. This is a boost from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is currently 34.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.51, for a total transaction of $339,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,312.25. The trade was a 28.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gary Weitman sold 1,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.21, for a total transaction of $219,917.61. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $704,409.75. The trade was a 23.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,105 shares of company stock worth $6,722,463. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NXST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim increased their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Benchmark increased their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Loop Capital raised Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.