News (NASDAQ:NWS) Stock Price Breaks Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average After Analyst Downgrade

News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $30.89 and traded as high as $32.02. News shares last traded at $32.00, with a volume of 921,214 shares trading hands.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, News presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On News

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in News by 102.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 844,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,079,000 after acquiring an additional 427,841 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in News during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,408,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in News by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 268,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,971,000 after purchasing an additional 101,018 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in shares of News in the first quarter worth approximately $1,159,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in shares of News in the second quarter worth approximately $867,000. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $33.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.05 billion, a PE ratio of 30.60 and a beta of 0.96.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. News had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 7.09%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that News Corporation will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 60.0%. News’s dividend payout ratio is 19.42%.

About News

News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS) is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York. Its businesses produce and distribute news, financial information, books, digital content and real estate listings across multiple platforms and geographies.

The company’s principal operations include Dow Jones, which provides business news, financial data and professional information services through publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s; News Corp Australia and News UK, which operate newspapers, digital news properties and other media brands; and HarperCollins Publishers, a global publisher of books in a broad range of categories.