Xponance Inc. Acquires 142 Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,719 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Nexstar Media Group were worth $745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 27,180.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,206,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202,453 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,102,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,103,000 after acquiring an additional 18,675 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 403,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,777,000 after acquiring an additional 19,116 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in Nexstar Media Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 277,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,656,000 after acquiring an additional 4,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the 4th quarter worth about $35,560,000. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark boosted 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nexstar Media Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nexstar Media Group news, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.93, for a total value of $119,947.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,115,511.75. This trade represents a 9.71 % 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, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 37,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.14, for a total transaction of $5,929,183.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 674,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,045,497.16. The trade was a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 73,112 shares of company stock valued at $12,085,893 over the last ninety days. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

Shares of NXST opened at $177.40 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.12. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.04 and a 12 month 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 capitalization of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.47.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $7.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This is an increase from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is presently 34.56%.

Nexstar Media Group Company 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.