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

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

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 686.1% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in John Wiley & Sons in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,827 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.94% of the company's stock.

John Wiley & Sons Price Performance

WLY traded down $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $42.60. 472,188 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 403,546. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.91. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.50 and a 52-week high of $53.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.30.

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

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

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised 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 Company 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.