News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Shares Sold by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc trimmed its position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 48.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,591 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,318 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in News were worth $126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NWSA. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in News by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,832,000 after buying an additional 8,144,856 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in News by 374.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,160,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,488,000 after buying an additional 1,704,944 shares during the last quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in News in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,585,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in News by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,799,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476,224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in News by 1,815.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,413,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339,379 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NWSA shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

News Stock Down 1.3 %

NWSA stock opened at $26.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 36.71 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $28.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.78. News Co. has a one year low of $22.65 and a one year high of $30.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s payout ratio is 27.40%.

About News

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.