Independent Franchise Partners LLP Has $781.88 Million Stock Holdings in News Corporation $NWSA

Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,934,048 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,137,691 shares during the quarter. News comprises 5.0% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Independent Franchise Partners LLP owned about 5.33% of News worth $781,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of News during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new stake in shares of News during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of News during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of News by 154.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of News by 561.1% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

News Price Performance

NASDAQ NWSA opened at $25.98 on Thursday. News Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $31.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market cap of $14.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 0.88.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that News Corporation will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NWSA. Zacks Research raised News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup reduced their target price on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of News in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.14.

About News

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.