Insider Selling: Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Director Sells 2,385 Shares of Stock

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Director John R. Muse sold 2,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.16, for a total transaction of $405,831.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,420,416.48. This represents a 8.41 % 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 Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ NXST traded up $0.76 during trading on Monday, reaching $170.51. 88,060 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 328,669. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.16. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.38 and a 12-month high of $191.86.

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

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.69 dividend. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on NXST. Loop Capital lowered shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $221.00 to $209.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.50.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 3,700.0% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.