Blue Trust Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 40.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,134 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,767 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in News were worth $114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of News in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in News in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in News in the third quarter valued at approximately $85,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in News in the fourth quarter worth $137,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of News by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWSA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their price target on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, News has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.25.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $28.53 on Friday. News Co. has a 52 week low of $22.65 and a 52 week high of $30.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $28.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $16.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.08 and a beta of 1.35.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. 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.