New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 500 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board cut its holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,001 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in News were worth $496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of News during the third quarter worth $39,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of News during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of News in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in News by 1,419.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 4,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in News during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $137,000. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup began coverage on News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

News Price Performance

Shares of NWSA opened at $30.21 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. News Co. has a twelve month low of $22.65 and a twelve month high of $30.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.38 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.18 and a 200-day moving average of $27.68.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

News Profile

News Corporation, a media and information services company, creates and distributes authoritative and engaging content, and other products and services for consumers and businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.