Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Stock Gets Price Target Increase from Wells Fargo & Company

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $249.00 to $250.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 32.71% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.67.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NXST traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $188.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 32,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,147. The business’s fifty day moving average is $167.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.86. The stock has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.85 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.09, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Nexstar Media Group has a 1 year low of $153.17 and a 1 year high of $254.30.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $7.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.07 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 3.20% and a return on equity of 24.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 78.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.14 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group will post 32.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Nexstar Media Group news, COO Michael Biard sold 2,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.82, for a total value of $458,046.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 20,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,881,779.80. This represents a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Dana Zimmer sold 4,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.46, for a total transaction of $751,339.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $335,928.32. The trade was a 69.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,596 shares of company stock worth $1,733,169. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 17.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 173,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,332,000 after buying an additional 25,193 shares in the last quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,285,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,607,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,576,000. Finally, Odyssean LLC grew its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 188.6% in the 2nd quarter. Odyssean LLC now owns 17,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,042,000 after acquiring an additional 11,133 shares during the period. 95.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nexstar Media Group Company Profile

Nexstar Media Group, Inc is a television broadcasting and digital media company headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company operates local television stations across the United States, with stations affiliated with major networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, The CW and MyNetworkTV. Its local media operations provide news, weather, sports, entertainment and other programming to audiences in markets nationwide.

Nexstar also owns and operates national media properties, including NewsNation, a cable and streaming news network, and The Hill, a political news and information platform.