First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Graham Holdings Company $GHC

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Graham Holdings Company (NYSE:GHC) by 91.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,703 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,932 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Graham were worth $41,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Graham by 89.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Graham by 35.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 29,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,728,000 after buying an additional 7,628 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Graham in the second quarter worth $2,728,000. Leuthold Group LLC raised its holdings in Graham by 46.9% during the 2nd quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Graham by 47.2% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GHC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Graham from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Graham in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy”.

Graham Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:GHC opened at $1,080.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1,057.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,027.01. Graham Holdings Company has a 52-week low of $840.50 and a 52-week high of $1,200.00.

Graham (NYSE:GHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $14.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.36 by $1.72. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Graham had a return on equity of 6.29% and a net margin of 14.93%.

Graham Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 16th were given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This represents a $7.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 16th. Graham’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.30%.

Graham Profile

Graham Holdings Company, through its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified education and media company in the United States and internationally. It provides test preparation services and materials; professional training and exam preparation for professional certifications and licensures; and non-academic operations support services to the Purdue University Global; operations support services for online courses and programs; training and test preparation services for accounting and financial services professionals; English-language training, academic preparation programs, and test preparation for English proficiency exams; and A-level examination preparation services, as well as operates colleges, business school, higher education institution, and an online learning institution.