Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Stock Price

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) had its target price lowered by investment analysts at Citigroup from $39.00 to $38.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 42.24% from the company’s previous close.

NWSA has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of News in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings cut News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut News from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.14.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA traded up $0.18 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.72. 1,703,800 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,288,080. News has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $31.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $14.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.30 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.40.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NWSA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in News in the 4th quarter worth approximately $188,788,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in News by 488.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,124,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,742,836 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in News by 2,348.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,664,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,961,000 after purchasing an additional 5,433,332 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of News by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,356,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $965,673,000 after buying an additional 4,448,929 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in News by 39.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,875,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,830,000 after acquiring an additional 4,214,562 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.