Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Lowers Stake in News Corporation $NWSA

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lessened its position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 44.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,180 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,631 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in News were worth $696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NWSA. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in News during the first quarter worth about $318,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of News in the first quarter worth about $283,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in News in the first quarter valued at approximately $534,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in News during the 1st quarter valued at $232,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in News by 192.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 50,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,270,000 after buying an additional 33,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

News stock opened at $27.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.59. News Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $31.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $26.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.57. The company has a market cap of $14.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.89.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.05. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that News Corporation will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on NWSA. Zacks Research raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup reduced their price target on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of News in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $37.14.

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.