News Corporation $NWS Shares Sold by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp cut its stake in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 910,175 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,013 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.16% of News worth $27,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in News by 2.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 30,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $934,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its holdings in News by 98.0% in the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 92,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,792,000 after acquiring an additional 45,885 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in News by 150.3% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of News by 26.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 14,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 3,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of News by 75.3% in the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Stock Down 0.5%

News stock opened at $33.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.72. News Corporation has a 12 month low of $26.25 and a 12 month high of $35.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.14 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.38.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. News had a return on equity of 5.66% and a net margin of 13.21%.The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that News Corporation will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 60.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. News’s payout ratio is presently 9.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Zacks Research upgraded News to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, News has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

News 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.