Arizona State Retirement System Acquires 1,628 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 110,152 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,628 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in News were worth $3,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NWSA. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of News by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,832,000 after buying an additional 8,144,856 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of News by 374.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,160,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,944 shares during the last quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of News in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,585,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of News by 6.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,799,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,397,000 after buying an additional 1,476,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in News by 1,815.4% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,413,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,632,000 after buying an additional 1,339,379 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Down 1.1 %

NWSA opened at $27.96 on Monday. News Co. has a 52 week low of $22.65 and a 52 week high of $30.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.84. The company has a market capitalization of $15.86 billion, a PE ratio of 38.30 and a beta of 1.34.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. Analysts forecast that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.