Sit Investment Associates Inc. Trims Holdings in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 36.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,480 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,025 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Nexstar Media Group worth $3,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,758,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 1,801.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 17,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,722,000 after acquiring an additional 16,324 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the fourth quarter worth about $506,000. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter valued at about $3,747,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 136.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 30,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,019,000 after purchasing an additional 17,535 shares in the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 32,096 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.67, for a total transaction of $5,477,824.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 806,019 shares in the company, valued at $137,563,262.73. The trade was a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $685,700.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,405 shares in the company, valued at $983,601.90. The trade was a 41.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 39,105 shares of company stock valued at $6,722,463 over the last three months. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NXST shares. StockNews.com downgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nexstar Media Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.43.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

Nexstar Media Group stock opened at $153.42 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.84. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.04 and a 52 week high of $191.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.09.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 26.03%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $1.86 per share. This is an increase 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 yield of 4.85%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.56%.

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.