Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Purchases New Holdings in iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 439,215 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $870,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.30% of iHeartMedia at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of iHeartMedia during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of iHeartMedia during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of iHeartMedia by 93.3% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 30,010 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 14,485 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. acquired a new position in shares of iHeartMedia during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iHeartMedia in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.89% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on IHRT. Wall Street Zen cut iHeartMedia from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim cut their price target on iHeartMedia from $5.00 to $4.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on iHeartMedia from $1.00 to $1.25 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, iHeartMedia currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $2.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert W. Pittman purchased 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1.22 per share, for a total transaction of $244,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,441,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,418,494.58. This represents a 4.72% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Richard J. Bressler purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $1.79 per share, with a total value of $179,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,617,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,475,797.56. This trade represents a 2.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 500,000 shares of company stock valued at $743,000 over the last quarter. 8.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

iHeartMedia Trading Up 0.6%

IHRT stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $1.26. 68,325 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 897,796. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.15 million, a PE ratio of -0.19 and a beta of 1.72. iHeartMedia, Inc. has a 1-year low of $0.81 and a 1-year high of $2.84.

iHeartMedia (NASDAQ:IHRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.63) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.47) by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $807.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $790.17 million. As a group, research analysts expect that iHeartMedia, Inc. will post -0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

iHeartMedia Profile

iHeartMedia, Inc operates as an audio media company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Multiplatform Group, Digital Audio Group, and Audio & Media Services Group. The Multiplatform Group segment offers broadcast radio stations, sponsorship and events, and live and virtual events; and operates Premiere Networks, a national radio network that produces, distributes, or represents syndicated radio programs and services to radio station affiliates.