Axa S.A. Has $1.65 Million Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Axa S.A. increased its position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 89.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 59,732 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,264 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in News were worth $1,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NWSA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in News by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,952,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,403,227,000 after buying an additional 632,721 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its holdings in News by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 26,617,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812,080 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in News by 124.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,832,000 after acquiring an additional 8,144,856 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its position in News by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 11,662,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,190,000 after buying an additional 1,245,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of News by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,857,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,798,000 after purchasing an additional 234,893 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Price Performance

NASDAQ NWSA opened at $28.49 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.79. 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 market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.02 and a beta of 1.30.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.02). News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, News has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.80.

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.