Estate Counselors LLC Acquires Shares of 66,409 News Corporation $NWS

Estate Counselors LLC bought a new position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 66,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,893,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of News by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,163,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344,287 shares during the last quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of News by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd now owns 4,273,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,630,000 after purchasing an additional 886,156 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in News by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,728,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,314,000 after purchasing an additional 124,871 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in News by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,960,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,733,000 after purchasing an additional 7,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in News by 2,991.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,947,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,066 shares during the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NWS shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

News Price Performance

NASDAQ NWS opened at $30.92 on Tuesday. News Corporation has a one year low of $25.49 and a one year high of $35.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.12 and a 200 day moving average of $29.17. The company has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.70.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.12 billion. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

News Company Profile

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS) is a global media and information services company engaged in news and digital real estate, book publishing and other media businesses. The company’s operations include print and digital newsbrands, business and financial information services, consumer platforms for property listings, and a major book publishing arm. Through its subsidiaries and brands, News Corp produces news content, market and financial reporting, online real-estate marketplaces and trade and consumer publishing products.

Key areas of activity include news and information, where the company publishes national and regional newspapers and operates business information services; book publishing through a well-known global publisher; and property-related digital businesses that operate online marketplaces for real estate listings.