Gary Weitman Sells 1,241 Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Stock

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) insider Gary Weitman sold 1,241 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.21, for a total transaction of $219,917.61. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $704,409.75. This represents a 23.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ:NXST opened at $177.85 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $156.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.71. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.04 and a 52 week high of $191.86. The company has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.47. 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 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. On average, research 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 issued a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. This is an increase from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NXST. Loop Capital raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

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.