FIL Ltd Buys 911,343 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 53.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,609,416 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 911,343 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd owned about 0.46% of News worth $71,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWSA. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of News by 2,392.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in News in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in News during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of News in the third quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company's stock.

News Stock Performance

NWSA stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.50. 466,786 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,410,478. 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 market cap of $15.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.30 and a beta of 1.24. News Co. has a 52-week low of $22.65 and a 52-week high of $30.69. The stock's 50-day moving average is $27.52 and its 200 day moving average is $27.73.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. As a group, analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. News's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on NWSA. UBS Group upgraded News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Guggenheim lifted their price target on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, News currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus 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.