New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Holdings in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 178,681 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,219 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.59% of Nexstar Media Group worth $32,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 550 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 786 shares of the company's stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,402,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,002 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,264,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ NXST traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $184.00. 230,855 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 374,759. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.66 and a fifty-two week high of $191.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $173.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 29.21% and a net margin of 12.21%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. Nexstar Media Group's payout ratio is currently 37.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on NXST shares. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $216.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.71.

Insider Activity at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, insider Dana Zimmer sold 1,151 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.53, for a total transaction of $202,035.03. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 3,141 shares in the company, valued at $551,339.73. This trade represents a 26.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sean Compton sold 1,088 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.53, for a total transaction of $190,976.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 12,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,123,210.88. This represents a 8.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,474 shares of company stock worth $3,666,988 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.70% of the company's stock.

About Nexstar Media Group

Nexstar Media Group, Inc operates as a diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports and entertainment content across the television and digital platforms in the United States. It owns, operates, programs, or provides sales and other services to various markets; and offers television programming services.