Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Shares in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 53,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,402,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.17% of Nexstar Media Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,487 shares of the company's stock worth $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 15.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Davis Capital Management raised its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 6,270 shares of the company's stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,518 shares of the company's stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,127 shares of the company's stock worth $1,600,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 32,096 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.67, for a total value 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 approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,768 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,405 shares in the company, valued at $983,601.90. The trade was a 41.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,105 shares of company stock worth $6,722,463 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Up 2.7 %

NXST opened at $150.44 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $163.35 and a 200-day moving average of $163.47. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $143.32 and a fifty-two week high of $191.86. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $7.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.95%. 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. Nexstar Media Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on NXST. Guggenheim lifted their price objective 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. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Nexstar Media Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Loop Capital raised Nexstar Media Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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