John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its stake in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) by 29.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 787,639 shares of the company’s stock after selling 328,780 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.46% of John Wiley & Sons worth $35,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 686.1% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. 73.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded John Wiley & Sons from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st.

John Wiley & Sons Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLY opened at $40.85 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $41.77 and its 200-day moving average is $42.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.50 and a 1-year high of $53.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 26.70 and a beta of 0.91.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $442.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.00 million. John Wiley & Sons had a return on equity of 27.42% and a net margin of 5.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. This is a boost from John Wiley & Sons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. John Wiley & Sons’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.81%.

John Wiley & Sons announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, June 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.