Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Acquires 1,721 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 81,715 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,721 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in News were worth $2,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in News in the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in News by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 22,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in News by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 55,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after purchasing an additional 4,342 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in News by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,967,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,037,000 after purchasing an additional 449,938 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in News by 2,392.9% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NWSA shares. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seaport Res Ptn raised News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, News presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.25.

News Price Performance

News stock opened at $26.98 on Monday. 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 52 week low of $22.65 and a 52 week high of $30.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.96 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.20 and a 200-day moving average of $27.80.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

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.