Aviva PLC Buys 20,645 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Aviva PLC grew its stake in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 282,027 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,645 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in News were worth $8,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in News by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,764,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,409,030,000 after buying an additional 812,180 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of News by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 27,189,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $740,101,000 after acquiring an additional 572,331 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox raised its position in shares of News by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,846,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,183,613 shares in the last quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of News by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 11,147,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,439,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metropolis Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of News by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 5,694,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,236,000 after purchasing an additional 747,744 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $26.82 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $27.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.49. News Corporation has a 52-week low of $23.38 and a 52-week high of $31.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company has a market cap of $15.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 1.15.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. News had a net margin of 13.80% and a return on equity of 5.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.70 price objective on shares of News in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of News in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.62.

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.