News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Stake Boosted by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 151,693 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in News were worth $4,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of News during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of News in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of News in the third quarter valued at $85,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of News by 1,419.6% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 4,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of News in the fourth quarter valued at $137,000. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NWSA. Citigroup began coverage on shares of News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital cut their target price on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group upgraded News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

News Price Performance

NWSA opened at $30.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. News Co. has a 12 month low of $22.65 and a 12 month high of $30.69. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.73. The stock has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.77 and a beta of 1.35.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. On average, research analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. News’s payout ratio is 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.