Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stake in News Corporation $NWSA

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,603,533 shares of the company’s stock after selling 49,604 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.47% of News worth $64,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its stake in shares of News by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 11,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in News by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in News by 5.9% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in News by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 151,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,947,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of News by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 8,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 634 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $27.34 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.89. News Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $31.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.05. News had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NWSA shares. Zacks Research upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of News in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, News presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $37.14.

News Profile

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company’s news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world’s largest consumer publishers.