Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $8.40 Million Investment in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 53,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,402,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter worth about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 330 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.23, for a total value of $52,215.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,362,360.30. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 52,808 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $8,312,507.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 674,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,203,582.54. This trade represents a 7.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 126,250 shares of company stock valued at $20,450,616 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Down 0.2 %

NXST stock opened at $176.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $146.04 and a 12 month high of $191.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $159.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.04.

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). The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 26.03%. As a group, analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a $1.86 dividend. This is a boost from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is 34.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NXST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Benchmark upped 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. Guggenheim upped 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. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.43.

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.