KBC Group NV Has $97,000 Stock Holdings in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY)

KBC Group NV reduced its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Free Report) by 75.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,186 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,888 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in John Wiley & Sons were worth $97,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Consolidated Planning Corp raised its position in John Wiley & Sons by 565.3% during the 1st quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 67,021 shares of the company's stock worth $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 56,947 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management raised its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 38,155 shares of the company's stock worth $1,700,000 after acquiring an additional 3,152 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the 1st quarter worth about $880,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company's stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,827 shares of the company's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. 73.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

John Wiley & Sons Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of WLY stock traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 627,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 467,216. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $41.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.34. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.50 and a 52 week high of $53.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.88 and a beta of 0.91.

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

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be paid a $0.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. This is an increase from John Wiley & Sons's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. John Wiley & Sons's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.16%.

John Wiley & Sons announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, June 26th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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.