39,140 Shares in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) Purchased by First Pacific Advisors LP

First Pacific Advisors LP purchased a new stake in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 39,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,744,000. First Pacific Advisors LP owned about 0.07% of John Wiley & Sons at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons during the 4th quarter worth about $44,880,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,916,000. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 171.8% in the 4th quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC now owns 347,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,169,000 after buying an additional 219,349 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in John Wiley & Sons during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,436,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in John Wiley & Sons during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,201,000. 73.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:WLY traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.19. The company had a trading volume of 792,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 570,090. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.50 and a twelve month high of $53.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62 and a beta of 0.91. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $41.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.08.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 17th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.10. John Wiley & Sons had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 27.42%. The firm had revenue of $442.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $435.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

John Wiley & Sons announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, June 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 8th. This is an increase from John Wiley & Sons's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. John Wiley & Sons's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of John Wiley & Sons from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st.

About John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons, Inc engages in the provision of research and learning materials. It operates through the following segments: Research, Learning, and Held for Sale or Sold. The Research segment consists of research publishing and research solutions. The Learning segment includes academic and professional reporting lines and consists of publishing and related knowledge solutions.