Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Decreases Position in Nielsen N.V. (NYSE:NLSN)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its stake in Nielsen N.V. (NYSE:NLSN) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 191 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Nielsen N.V. were worth $2,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NLSN. Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Company LTD boosted its stake in Nielsen N.V. by 40.7% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Company LTD now owns 1,056,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,854,000 after buying an additional 305,810 shares during the last quarter. Smith Salley & Associates bought a new stake in shares of Nielsen N.V. during the second quarter valued at about $1,693,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Nielsen N.V. by 3.5% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 668,420 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,860,000 after buying an additional 22,789 shares in the last quarter. Breton Hill Capital Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Nielsen N.V. by 14.4% in the second quarter. Breton Hill Capital Ltd. now owns 35,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after buying an additional 4,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nielsen N.V. by 24.9% in the second quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 195,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,577,000 after buying an additional 39,086 shares in the last quarter. 96.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of Nielsen N.V. (NYSE NLSN) traded down 0.92% during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.64. 1,665,447 shares of the stock were exchanged. The firm has a market cap of $14.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.89 and a beta of 0.97. Nielsen N.V. has a 12-month low of $36.96 and a 12-month high of $54.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.02 and its 200 day moving average is $40.92.

Nielsen N.V. (NYSE:NLSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The business services provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.14. Nielsen N.V. had a net margin of 7.68% and a return on equity of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Nielsen N.V.’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nielsen N.V. will post $2.60 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 24th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 22nd. Nielsen N.V.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.27%.

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Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NLSN. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Nielsen N.V. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Nielsen N.V. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 5th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Nielsen N.V. from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. Pivotal Research reduced their target price on shares of Nielsen N.V. from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, J P Morgan Chase & Co reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective (down previously from $48.00) on shares of Nielsen N.V. in a report on Wednesday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.64.

In other news, CFO Jamere Jackson sold 11,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.55, for a total transaction of $443,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,388,082.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen Hasker sold 20,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total transaction of $899,990.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 79,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,411,663. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Nielsen N.V.

Nielsen N.V. (Nielsen), formerly Nielsen Holdings N.V., is an information and measurement company. The Company is engaged in providing clients with an understanding of consumers and consumer behavior. The Company delivers media and marketing information, and analytics on a global and local basis. Nielsen operates through two business segments: Buy and Watch.