Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 775,379 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,914,933 shares of the company’s stock after selling 775,379 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in News were worth $128,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its stake in shares of News by 114.4% in the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 15,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 8,245 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of News in the 4th quarter valued at $188,788,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in shares of News in the 4th quarter valued at $4,407,000. National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of News by 151.3% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 21,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 13,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of News by 150.5% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

News Stock Performance

NWSA opened at $27.06 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $25.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.42. News Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $31.61. The company has a market cap of $14.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 0.88.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.05. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that News Corporation will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of News in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, News currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.14.

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.