John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lowered its stake in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Free Report) by 75.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,186 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,888 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in John Wiley & Sons were worth $97,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WLY. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,880,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the fourth quarter valued at $34,916,000. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC grew its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 171.8% during the 4th quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC now owns 347,047 shares of the company's stock worth $15,169,000 after purchasing an additional 219,349 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 261.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 129,423 shares of the company's stock worth $5,657,000 after purchasing an additional 93,661 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,436,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.94% of the company's stock.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE WLY traded down $0.92 on Friday, hitting $42.60. 472,188 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 404,184. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.33. The company has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84 and a beta of 0.91. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.50 and a fifty-two week high of $53.96.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 17th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $442.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.00 million. John Wiley & Sons had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 27.42%. The company's revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.355 dividend. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. This is an increase from John Wiley & Sons's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. John Wiley & Sons's dividend payout ratio is 92.81%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised John Wiley & Sons from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report 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.