Andra AP fonden Cuts Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Andra AP fonden trimmed its holdings in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 495,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 98,300 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in News were worth $13,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of News by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,799,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $689,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476,224 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in News by 124.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,832,000 after buying an additional 8,144,856 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in News by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,622,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,457,000 after buying an additional 90,419 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in News by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,420,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,733,000 after acquiring an additional 82,577 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in News by 374.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,160,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704,944 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $27.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.65 and a fifty-two week high of $30.69. The stock has a market cap of $15.86 billion, a PE ratio of 38.30 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.27 and a 200-day moving average of $27.83.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. Equities research analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim upped their price target on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup assumed coverage on News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.25.

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.