News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Shares Bought by Mariner LLC

Mariner LLC raised its holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,026 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the period. Mariner LLC’s holdings in News were worth $1,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NWSA. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in News by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of News by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of News by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in News by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 12,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in News by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 108,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,991,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NWSA. Guggenheim raised their target price on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of News from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, News currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.80.

News Trading Up 1.2 %

NWSA opened at $26.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.77 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.70. News Co. has a 12 month low of $22.65 and a 12 month high of $30.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its 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 net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. Sell-side analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.40%.

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.