Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Sells 265 Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,534 shares of the company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Nexstar Media Group were worth $1,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 27,180.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,206,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,650,000 after buying an additional 1,202,453 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 1.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 18,675 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position 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 buying an additional 19,116 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in 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 buying an additional 4,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,560,000. 95.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NXST opened at $181.00 on Wednesday. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.26. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.04 and a 1 year high of $191.86. The firm has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.47.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last issued 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 net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 26.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. On average, equities analysts expect 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 $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This is a positive change from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $5,477,824.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 806,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $137,563,262.73. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.93, for a total transaction of $119,947.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,975 shares in the company, valued at $1,115,511.75. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,112 shares of company stock worth $12,085,893. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NXST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Benchmark raised their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.43.

Nexstar Media Group Profile

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.