LPL Financial LLC Increases Holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS)

LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 56.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 50,373 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,254 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in News were worth $1,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in News by 123.7% during the 4th 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. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of News by 136.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in News by 2,892.8% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in News by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in News by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. 14.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWS opened at $30.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.75. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.99 and a fifty-two week high of $35.25. The company has a market capitalization of $17.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.10 and a beta of 1.26.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. Analysts expect that News Co. will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a yield of 0.6%. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About News

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.