Insider Selling: Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) CEO Sells $5,929,183.50 in Stock

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) CEO Perry A. Sook sold 37,025 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.14, for a total transaction of $5,929,183.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 674,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,045,497.16. This represents a 5.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

Shares of NXST opened at $159.14 on Monday. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.25 and a 1 year high of $191.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $168.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.47.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.51 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. The company’s revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 24.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $1.69 per share. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.10%.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter worth $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 3,700.0% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 266 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on NXST. Guggenheim cut their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Loop Capital cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.29.

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.