OP Asset Management Ltd Acquires New Holdings in News Corporation $NWSA

OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 38,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $949,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of News by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,356,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $965,673,000 after purchasing an additional 4,448,929 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in shares of News by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 29,934,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $781,877,000 after buying an additional 1,137,691 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in News by 39.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,875,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,830,000 after buying an additional 4,214,562 shares during the period. 59 North Capital Management LP boosted its stake in News by 10.7% during the third quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 14,009,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,224,000 after buying an additional 1,358,375 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in News by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,458,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,169,000 after buying an additional 88,157 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

News Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $25.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $26.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. News Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $31.61.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of News in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Four investment 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.