News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Stock Position Lessened by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. reduced its stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA – Get Rating) by 51.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,731 shares of the company’s stock after selling 118,347 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in News were worth $1,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NWSA. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in News by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 240,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in News by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 132,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in News by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 52,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $825,000 after buying an additional 804 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake in News by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 235,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,557,000 after buying an additional 853 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its stake in News by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 98,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWSA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of News in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Loop Capital upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, News currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.03.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel David B. Pitofsky sold 23,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total value of $409,212.50. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 63,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,101,961.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 13.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $16.21 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. News Co. has a twelve month low of $14.87 and a twelve month high of $23.07. The firm has a market cap of $9.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.51 and a 200-day moving average of $17.70.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 9th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.11). News had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 5.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. News’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that News Co. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. News’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.46%.

News Company Profile

(Get Rating)

News Corp. is a media and information services company, which engages in the creation and distribution of content and other services. It operates through the following segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other. The Digital Real Estate Services segment refers to the firm’s interest in the REA Group, a company with operations focused on property and property-related advertising and services, as well as financial services.