Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 229,525 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,883 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings in News were worth $6,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NWSA. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in News by 2,392.9% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in shares of News during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of News during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of News during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in News by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $27.94 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.89. News Co. has a twelve month low of $23.38 and a twelve month 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 stock has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.27 and a beta of 1.30.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.02). News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. News’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWSA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of News in a report on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.20.

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.