Swiss National Bank Has $33.37 Million Stock Position in News Corporation $NWSA

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 4.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,086,475 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in News were worth $33,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of News during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in News in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in News by 120.0% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of News during the third quarter worth about $89,000. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ NWSA traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $23.86. 502,064 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,860,639. The stock has a market cap of $13.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.69. News Corporation has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $31.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.46.

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

News Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of News from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of News from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of News from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of News from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.02.

News Company 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.