News (NASDAQ:NWS) Stock Dropped to "Hold" by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded News Corp from “strong buy” to “hold,” while Weiss Ratings upgraded it from “hold” to “buy.” Overall, analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus.
• News stock opened at $31.52, with a market capitalization of $17.05 billion and a 52-week range of $25.49 to $35.76.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $0.35 per share, beating estimates of $0.24, while revenue of $2.25 billion matched expectations. Institutional investors currently own 14.63% of the stock.

News (NASDAQ:NWS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

News Price Performance

NWS stock opened at $31.52 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $17.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.60 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.62. News has a 1 year low of $25.49 and a 1 year high of $35.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.92.

News (NASDAQ:NWS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.11. News had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 6.35%.The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.25 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that News will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWS. L1 Capital Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of News by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd now owns 4,273,704 shares of the company's stock worth $126,630,000 after purchasing an additional 886,156 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in News by 2.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,761,977 shares of the company's stock worth $50,233,000 after purchasing an additional 46,837 shares in the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd increased its holdings in News by 18.7% in the first quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 1,035,141 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,512,000 after buying an additional 163,356 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in News by 102.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 844,576 shares of the company's stock worth $24,079,000 after buying an additional 427,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of News by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 699,074 shares of the company's stock worth $19,931,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193 shares in the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Company Profile

News Corp NASDAQ: NWS is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York. Its businesses produce and distribute news, financial information, books, digital content and real estate listings across multiple platforms and geographies.

The company's principal operations include Dow Jones, which provides business news, financial data and professional information services through publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Barron's; News Corp Australia and News UK, which operate newspapers, digital news properties and other media brands; and HarperCollins Publishers, a global publisher of books in a broad range of categories.

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