Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Lowers Holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 138,786 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,350 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in News were worth $3,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in News during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in News by 104.8% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in News by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares in the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in News during the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in News during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Price Performance

Shares of News stock opened at $24.92 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.56. News Co. has a 12 month low of $16.35 and a 12 month high of $28.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.30 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.06. News had a return on equity of 4.14% and a net margin of 2.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.8%. News’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NWSA. TheStreet upgraded News from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Macquarie raised News from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $29.50.

About News

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 in six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.