Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 886,828 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its stake in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 51,284,962 shares of the company’s stock after selling 886,828 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.09% of News worth $1,574,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in shares of News in the second quarter worth about $30,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in News in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in News in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in News by 87.9% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of News by 160.1% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWSA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on News from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $32.40 price objective on News in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Guggenheim cut 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.02.

News Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NWSA stock opened at $23.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.99. News Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $31.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $25.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.98.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.07. News had a return on equity of 5.94% and a net margin of 13.35%.The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a yield of 83.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. News’s payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

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.