Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Trims Stock Holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc decreased its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 192,125 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,938 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc's holdings in News were worth $5,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWSA. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in News by 2,392.9% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in News during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of News in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of News in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of News by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company's stock.

News Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:NWSA traded up $0.17 on Friday, hitting $28.32. 3,315,353 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,801,956. The stock has a market cap of $16.03 billion, a PE ratio of 38.80 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.77 and a 200-day moving average of $27.87. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.38 and a fifty-two week high of $30.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.02). News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. The company had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. News's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NWSA. StockNews.com raised News from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim lifted their price target on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $38.80.

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.