Dan Lanzano Sells 247 Shares of Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Stock

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) insider Dan Lanzano sold 247 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.32, for a total value of $46,268.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $80,734.92. The trade was a 36.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Dan Lanzano also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, May 18th, Dan Lanzano sold 237 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.37, for a total value of $46,539.69.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NXST stock opened at $185.94 on Friday. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.00 and a 52-week high of $254.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a PE ratio of 39.90, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $198.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.93.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 159.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NXST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Citigroup upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $252.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Benchmark cut their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $300.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $259.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NXST. Dorsal Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter valued at $74,152,000. QVT Financial LP grew its position in Nexstar Media Group by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. QVT Financial LP now owns 155,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,530,000 after acquiring an additional 310,562 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Nexstar Media Group by 118.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 543,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,795,000 after acquiring an additional 294,308 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Nexstar Media Group by 157.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 374,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,960,000 after acquiring an additional 228,603 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the fourth quarter worth about $41,474,000. 95.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Nexstar Media Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Nexstar Media Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: NXST was highlighted in a Zacks piece on PEG-driven value stocks, which can support the bull case by keeping the name on investors’ radar as a relatively undervalued growth stock. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several Nexstar executives and insiders sold shares at $187.32, but the filings say the transactions were made to cover tax withholding tied to equity award vesting, which usually limits the bearish signal. SEC filing reference
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest was shown as zero shares, so there is no meaningful short-selling data in this update to explain the stock’s move. Article reference
• Negative Sentiment: The cluster of insider sales from multiple executives, including the COO and several EVPs, may weigh on sentiment in the near term even though the sales were non-discretionary. MarketBeat insider trades page

Nexstar Media Group Company Profile

Nexstar Media Group, Inc is a diversified American media company engaged primarily in the ownership, operation and strategic affiliation of local television stations, digital platforms and cable networks. The company provides a range of broadcast content, including local news, sports coverage, entertainment programming and syndicated shows, reaching audiences in more than 100 television markets across the United States.

Founded in 1996 by entrepreneur Perry Sook and headquartered in Irving, Texas, Nexstar has built its presence through organic growth and a series of high-profile acquisitions.