Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. Sells 78,324 Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST - Free Report) by 97.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,305 shares of the company's stock after selling 78,324 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Nexstar Media Group were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 550 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 883 shares of the company's stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 32,096 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.67, for a total value of $5,477,824.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 806,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $137,563,262.73. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,768 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $685,700.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $983,601.90. This represents a 41.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,105 shares of company stock worth $6,722,463. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ NXST traded up $1.16 on Friday, reaching $152.12. The stock had a trading volume of 220,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 373,376. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $163.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.21. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $143.32 and a 1-year high of $191.86.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $7.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $9.22 by ($1.66). Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This is a positive change from Nexstar Media Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. Nexstar Media Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NXST. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com cut Nexstar Media Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Loop Capital raised Nexstar Media Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $190.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.43.

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.