QRG Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in News Corporation $NWSA

QRG Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 69.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,377 shares of the company’s stock after selling 154,251 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in News were worth $2,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in News during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of News during the second quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of News by 3.6% in the second quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 121,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,610,000 after purchasing an additional 4,244 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of News by 379.6% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 111,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,330,000 after buying an additional 88,616 shares during the period. Finally, Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new stake in News during the 3rd quarter valued at $812,000. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of News from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of News from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on News from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.68.

News Price Performance

NWSA stock opened at $26.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.63. News Corporation has a 1 year low of $23.38 and a 1 year high of $31.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.05 and a 200 day moving average of $27.75. The company has a market cap of $14.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 0.97.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. News had a return on equity of 5.68% and a net margin of 13.80%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Profile

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company’s news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world’s largest consumer publishers.