VELA Investment Management LLC Trims Holdings in Graham Holdings (NYSE:GHC)

VELA Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Graham Holdings (NYSE:GHC) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,695 shares of the company’s stock after selling 78 shares during the quarter. Graham accounts for 2.4% of VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Graham were worth $8,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Graham by 8.4% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Graham by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Graham by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Graham by 9.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Graham by 558.3% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Marcel A. Snyman sold 159 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $881.30, for a total value of $140,126.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $389,534.60. This represents a 26.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 20.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Graham from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Graham Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of GHC opened at $978.34 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $909.96 and its 200 day moving average is $861.70. Graham Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $683.00 and a fifty-two week high of $988.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Graham Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Graham’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.10%.

About Graham

Graham Holdings Company, through its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified education and media company in the United States and internationally. It provides test preparation services and materials; professional training and exam preparation for professional certifications and licensures; and non-academic operations support services to the Purdue University Global; operations support services for online courses and programs; training and test preparation services for accounting and financial services professionals; English-language training, academic preparation programs, and test preparation for English proficiency exams; and A-level examination preparation services, as well as operates colleges, business school, higher education institution, and an online learning institution.