News Corporation $NWSA Stock: NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Increases Stake

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 87.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,692 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,026 shares during the quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in News were worth $1,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of News by 41.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 216,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,377,000 after acquiring an additional 62,999 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of News during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,845,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of News during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,807,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in News by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,326,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in News by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,245,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,842,000 after purchasing an additional 94,368 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $30.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.34 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.57 and its 200-day moving average is $27.50. News Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $31.66.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. News had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 6.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that News Corporation will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 68.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. News’s payout ratio is presently 19.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on NWSA shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of News in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of News from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research cut News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, News currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.50.

News Company Profile

News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global media and information-services company that creates and distributes news, business information, books, digital content and real estate services. Its operations serve consumers, professionals, institutions and businesses across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other international markets.

The company’s Dow Jones division provides business and financial news, data and information through publications and platforms including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Factiva and Dow Jones Newswires.