Vanguard Group Inc. Has $198.87 Million Stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,535,237 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 138,680 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in News were worth $198,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of News by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in News by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 29,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $910,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in News by 1.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 27,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in News by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of News by 123.7% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

News Trading Down 5.9 %

NASDAQ:NWS opened at $27.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65. News Co. has a one year low of $23.99 and a one year high of $35.25. The company has a market cap of $15.72 billion, a PE ratio of 37.95 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.87 and a 200-day moving average of $30.71.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that News Co. will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend 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.