Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Has $54.29 Million Stock Holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lowered its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,971,199 shares of the company’s stock after selling 149,509 shares during the quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC’s holdings in News were worth $54,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in News by 2,392.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in News during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in News during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of News by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of News during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Down 0.6 %

NWSA opened at $26.77 on Thursday. News Co. has a 1-year low of $22.65 and a 1-year high of $30.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.82. 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 market cap of $15.19 billion, a PE ratio of 36.67 and a beta of 1.34.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio is 27.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NWSA shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Guggenheim upped their price objective on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup started coverage on News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upgraded News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Six equities research 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.com, News presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.25.

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.