Meredith Co. (MDP) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its position in Meredith Co. (NYSE:MDP) by 15.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 246,966 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,605 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.55% of Meredith worth $12,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Meredith by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 808,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,224,000 after acquiring an additional 8,619 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of Meredith by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 118,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,570,000 after acquiring an additional 3,394 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Meredith by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 222,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Meredith by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 6,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Meredith by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter.

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MDP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Meredith from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 29th. Zacks Investment Research raised Meredith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 2nd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Meredith in a research note on Tuesday, February 12th. Gabelli initiated coverage on Meredith in a research note on Thursday, February 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $54.97 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Meredith in a research note on Friday, December 7th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $61.39.

NYSE MDP opened at $56.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Meredith Co. has a twelve month low of $47.30 and a twelve month high of $62.40.

Meredith (NYSE:MDP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 11th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $853.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $859.28 million. Meredith had a positive return on equity of 16.96% and a negative net margin of 1.89%. The company’s revenue was up 104.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meredith Co. will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 27th. This is a boost from Meredith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Meredith’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.83%.

In other news, insider John S. Zieser sold 2,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.96, for a total transaction of $145,248.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

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Meredith Company Profile

Meredith Corporation operates as a diversified media company in the United States, Europe, and Asia. It operates in two segments, National Media and Local Media. The National Media segment offers national consumer media brands through various media platforms, including print magazines, digital and mobile media, brand licensing activities, database-related activities, affinity marketing, and business-to-business marketing products and services.

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