News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Stock Breaks Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $27.14 and traded as high as $28.72. News shares last traded at $28.64, with a volume of 3,385,562 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on NWSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Zacks Research lowered News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of News in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.50.

News Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.85 and a beta of 0.97.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.14. News had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that News Corporation will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a yield of 68.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.42%.

Institutional Trading of News

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Metropolis Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of News by 26.4% in the first quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 8,835,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843,900 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in News by 80.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,069,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,441,000 after buying an additional 1,819,652 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in News by 120.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,326,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,002,000 after buying an additional 1,272,083 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in News by 174.3% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,911,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,649,000 after buying an additional 1,214,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its stake in News by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 29,934,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $781,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137,691 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Company Profile

News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global media and information-services company that creates and distributes news, business information, books, digital content and real estate services. Its operations serve consumers, professionals, institutions and businesses across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other international markets.

The company’s Dow Jones division provides business and financial news, data and information through publications and platforms including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Factiva and Dow Jones Newswires.