Merit Financial Group LLC Buys New Shares in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,331,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,314,000 after purchasing an additional 4,704 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,102,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,103,000 after purchasing an additional 18,675 shares in the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 16,009.5% during the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 773,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,227,000 after purchasing an additional 768,934 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 463,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,162,000 after acquiring an additional 84,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 423,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,949,000 after buying an additional 56,935 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ NXST opened at $169.17 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $161.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.17. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.66 and a 52-week high of $191.86. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 26.03%. Nexstar Media Group’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is currently 37.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $983,601.90. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael Biard sold 2,182 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.59, for a total value of $378,773.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,252,972.62. This represents a 23.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,033 shares of company stock valued at $3,491,901 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NXST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $216.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.71.

Nexstar Media Group Profile

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.