Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Shares in Graham Holdings (NYSE:GHC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Graham Holdings (NYSE:GHC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $697,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Graham by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Graham by 6.5% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Graham by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its stake in Graham by 1.9% in the third quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 2,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,356,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in Graham by 0.5% in the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 9,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,451,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 62.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graham Price Performance

Shares of GHC stock opened at $717.82 on Friday. Graham Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $551.36 and a fifty-two week high of $771.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $725.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $681.75.

Graham (NYSE:GHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported $10.94 earnings per share for the quarter. Graham had a return on equity of 5.23% and a net margin of 4.65%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter.

Graham Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 17th. This represents a $6.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Graham’s payout ratio is 15.83%.

Insider Transactions at Graham

In other news, Director Katharine Weymouth sold 556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.99, for a total transaction of $396,422.44. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,993 shares in the company, valued at $1,420,989.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 20.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Graham from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th.

Graham Profile

Graham Holdings Company, through its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified education and media company in the United States and internationally. It provides test preparation services and materials; professional training and exam preparation for professional certifications and licensures; and non-academic operations support services to the Purdue University Global; operations support services for online courses and programs; training and test preparation services for accounting and financial services professionals; English-language training, academic preparation programs, and test preparation for English proficiency exams; and A-level examination preparation services, as well as operates colleges, business school, higher education institution, and an online learning institution.