Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Insider Sells $219,917.61 in Stock

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) insider Gary Weitman sold 1,241 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.21, for a total value of $219,917.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $704,409.75. This represents a 23.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

NXST traded up $5.26 on Friday, reaching $177.85. The stock had a trading volume of 609,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 371,909. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.45. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.04 and a fifty-two week high of $191.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $156.23 and a 200-day moving average of $163.70.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last posted 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). The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This is an increase from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is presently 34.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 7.6% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the third quarter worth approximately $312,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the 3rd quarter worth $1,342,000. Institutional investors own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark boosted their price objective 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. Loop Capital upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nexstar Media Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.