WINTON GROUP Ltd Purchases Shares of 27,636 News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 27,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $761,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in News by 124.0% during the third 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. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of News by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 180,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,801,000 after acquiring an additional 37,702 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of News by 381.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 192,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,138,000 after purchasing an additional 152,864 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of News by 30.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,458,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,850,000 after purchasing an additional 338,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in News by 108.0% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 215,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,743,000 after purchasing an additional 111,987 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Down 1.3 %

News stock opened at $26.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $28.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43 and a beta of 1.34. News Co. has a 1-year low of $22.65 and a 1-year high of $30.69.

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

News Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors 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 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NWSA shares. StockNews.com raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, News presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.25.

News Company 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.