John Wiley & Sons, Inc. $WLY Shares Sold by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. has reduced its stake in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. by 58.4%, now owning approximately 52,742 shares valued at $2.35 million.
• Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment.
• John Wiley & Sons reported earnings per share of $0.49 for the last quarter, which was below the analysts' estimate of $0.50, and has set its FY 2026 guidance between 3.900-4.350 EPS.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Free Report) by 58.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,742 shares of the company's stock after selling 74,170 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.10% of John Wiley & Sons worth $2,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in John Wiley & Sons by 35.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 222,972 shares of the company's stock worth $9,936,000 after buying an additional 5,901 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the 1st quarter worth approximately $880,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 440,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,244,000 after purchasing an additional 43,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 55.5% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 33,174 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 11,839 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.94% of the company's stock.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Performance

WLY traded up $0.84 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.23. 274,396 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 363,698. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $53.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72 and a beta of 1.02. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $40.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.70.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.01). John Wiley & Sons had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 5.82%.The business had revenue of $396.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $375.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. John Wiley & Sons has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.350 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th were given a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from John Wiley & Sons's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. John Wiley & Sons's payout ratio is 79.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of John Wiley & Sons from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 6th.

John Wiley & Sons Profile

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.