Aberdeen Group plc Trims Stock Holdings in News Corporation $NWSA

Aberdeen Group plc lessened its stake in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 15.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 278,314 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,391 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in News were worth $8,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NWSA. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of News in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in News by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 121,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,610,000 after acquiring an additional 4,244 shares during the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of News during the 3rd quarter valued at about $812,000. XTX Topco Ltd grew its stake in shares of News by 197.2% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 83,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 55,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Fund Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of News in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,246,000. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

News Stock Up 0.0%

NWSA opened at $23.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.97 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $25.61 and a 200-day moving average of $27.02. News Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $31.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. News had a return on equity of 5.94% and a net margin of 13.35%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 83.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NWSA. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings raised News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $32.40 target price on News in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on News from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, News has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.02.

About News

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.