Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 3.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,132 shares of the company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Nexstar Media Group were worth $865,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 4.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,326,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,189,000 after acquiring an additional 62,331 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,083,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,149,000 after buying an additional 7,117 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 547,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,567,000 after purchasing an additional 83,829 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 72.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 199,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,769,000 after acquiring an additional 83,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 6.1% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 189,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,362,000 after buying an additional 10,938 shares in the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Nexstar Media Group

In other Nexstar Media Group news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 12,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.28, for a total transaction of $2,328,836.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 674,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,380,774.32. This trade represents a 1.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.23, for a total transaction of $52,215.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,610 shares in the company, valued at $1,362,360.30. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,448 shares of company stock worth $23,828,076 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on NXST shares. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Loop Capital cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.29.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

Shares of Nexstar Media Group stock opened at $159.14 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.47. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.25 and a 12 month high of $191.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.20, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.51 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. Nexstar Media Group’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 24.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $1.69 dividend. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.10%.

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.