Blueshift Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC lessened its position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 75.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,897 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,998 shares during the quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in News were worth $328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NWSA. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in News by 2,392.9% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in News during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in News during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in News by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in News during the third quarter worth approximately $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NWSA shares. Citigroup began coverage on News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital cut their target price on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.25.

News Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $27.04 on Friday. News Co. has a twelve month low of $22.65 and a twelve month high of $30.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.34 billion, a PE ratio of 37.04 and a beta of 1.34.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. On average, equities analysts forecast that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. News’s payout ratio is 27.40%.

News Company Profile

News Corporation, a media and information services company, creates and distributes authoritative and engaging content, and other products and services for consumers and businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.