KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Sells 24,800 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lessened its holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 9.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 226,195 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,800 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in News were worth $6,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of News by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,171,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,550,546,000 after acquiring an additional 407,293 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its stake in News by 7.3% in the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 29,170,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $866,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980,941 shares in the last quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP lifted its position in News by 13.5% during the second quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 12,650,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503,213 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in News by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,154,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,578,000 after buying an additional 208,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of News by 488.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,124,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,054,000 after buying an additional 6,742,836 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on News from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of News in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their target price on News from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.68.

News Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ NWSA opened at $26.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.97. News Corporation has a 1-year low of $23.38 and a 1-year high of $31.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $25.98 and a 200-day moving average of $27.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.68% and a net margin of 13.80%.The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.21 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Profile

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.