Contour Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Contour Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,382,702 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 936,702 shares during the quarter. News comprises about 4.3% of Contour Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Contour Asset Management LLC owned about 0.95% of News worth $148,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NWSA. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in News by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,832,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,856 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in News in the fourth quarter valued at about $172,357,000. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of News by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 26,617,259 shares of the company's stock worth $733,039,000 after buying an additional 2,812,080 shares during the last quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of News by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 8,962,112 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569,343 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of News by 374.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,160,045 shares of the company's stock worth $59,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,944 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $27.73 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $15.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.99 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.77. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.65 and a fifty-two week high of $30.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on NWSA. Citigroup began coverage on News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Guggenheim increased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.80.

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.

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