News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,071,675 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in News were worth $29,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NWSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, News has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.25.

News Stock Up 0.6 %

NWSA stock opened at $27.15 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.65 and a fifty-two week high of $30.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19 and a beta of 1.34.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. 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.