Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Stock Position Reduced by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST - Free Report) by 32.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,512 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,499 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Nexstar Media Group worth $11,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

NXST has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report 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 for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Loop Capital cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nexstar Media Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $204.29.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:NXST traded down $2.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $157.10. 257,543 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 334,124. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $168.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.55. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.25 and a 1-year high of $191.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.09, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.45.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 24.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $1.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Nexstar Media Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.10%.

Insider Activity

In other Nexstar Media Group news, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 750 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.93, for a total transaction of $119,947.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,115,511.75. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 330 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 8,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,362,360.30. This trade represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 146,448 shares of company stock worth $23,828,076. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

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.