Kentucky Retirement Systems Buys New Shares in News Corporation $NWSA

Kentucky Retirement Systems bought a new position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 41,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,025,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NWSA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of News in the fourth quarter worth about $188,788,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of News by 488.0% during the second 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 during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in News by 2,348.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,664,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,961,000 after buying an additional 5,433,332 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in News by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,356,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $965,673,000 after buying an additional 4,448,929 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in News by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,706,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,662,000 after buying an additional 2,449,552 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $27.56 on Friday. News Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $31.61. The company has a market capitalization of $15.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on NWSA shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of News in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, News presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.