News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Shares Sold by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio lessened its holdings in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 95,117 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,871 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in News were worth $2,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NWSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of News by 75.2% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 644,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,278,000 after purchasing an additional 276,730 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in News by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 35,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in News by 68.1% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 2,963 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in News by 8.2% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 32,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 2,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of News by 22.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 106,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,355,000 after purchasing an additional 19,490 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

News Price Performance

Shares of NWSA stock opened at $24.02 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $25.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.74. The firm has a market cap of $13.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.05 and a beta of 1.33. News Co. has a 1-year low of $16.35 and a 1-year high of $28.00. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. News had a return on equity of 4.14% and a net margin of 2.29%. News’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

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

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.