News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV decreased its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 713 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in News were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in News by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,069,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,254,000 after acquiring an additional 295,631 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in News by 101.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 496,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,889,000 after purchasing an additional 249,659 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in News by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 250,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,004,000 after purchasing an additional 26,044 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in News by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 203,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,197,000 after purchasing an additional 7,238 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in News by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 199,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,584,000 after purchasing an additional 43,107 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWS opened at $32.32 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.18. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $23.99 and a 1-year high of $35.25. The company has a market cap of $18.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.27 and a beta of 1.38.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. Analysts forecast that News Co. will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. News’s payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

News 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.