John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Free Report) by 11.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,081 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,621 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.09% of John Wiley & Sons worth $2,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

John Wiley & Sons Price Performance

Shares of WLY stock traded up $0.49 on Thursday, reaching $43.54. 149,254 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 402,317. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.54. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.50 and a 1 year high of $53.96.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 17th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $442.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $435.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. John Wiley & Sons's revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. This is a boost from John Wiley & Sons's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. John Wiley & Sons's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.81%.

John Wiley & Sons declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, June 26th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.