Sei Investments Co. Has $17.75 Million Stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Sei Investments Co. cut its holdings in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 644,435 shares of the company’s stock after selling 80,976 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.11% of News worth $17,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of News by 6.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 32,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $868,000 after buying an additional 1,965 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in News by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 60,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of News in the third quarter worth about $358,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of News by 1.2% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 571,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,213,000 after purchasing an additional 6,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of News by 55.9% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 91,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 32,866 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA stock opened at $26.94 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.15 and a 200-day moving average of $27.77. News Co. has a one year low of $22.65 and a one year high of $30.69. The stock has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a PE ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on NWSA. Guggenheim upped their price objective on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

About News

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.