35,460 News Corporation $NWSA Shares Sold by Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Baker Ellis Asset Management cut its News Corp. position by 63.1% in the third quarter, selling 35,460 shares and retaining 20,700 shares worth approximately $593,000. Institutional investors collectively own 66.97% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with five Buy ratings and one Hold rating, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $38.50 price target versus the stock’s reported price of $29.56.
• News Corp. exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.35 in EPS versus the $0.21 consensus and revenue of $2.34 billion. The company also paid a $0.10-per-share dividend, though the article’s stated 68.0% yield appears inconsistent with the reported payout.

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 63.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,700 shares of the company's stock after selling 35,460 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC's holdings in News were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NWSA. Metropolis Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of News by 26.4% in the first quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 8,835,157 shares of the company's stock worth $220,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843,900 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of News by 80.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,069,041 shares of the company's stock worth $101,441,000 after buying an additional 1,819,652 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of News by 120.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,326,616 shares of the company's stock worth $58,002,000 after buying an additional 1,272,083 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in News by 174.3% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,911,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of News by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 29,934,048 shares of the company's stock valued at $781,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,691 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NWSA. Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Zacks Research cut News from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.50.

News Stock Performance

News stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.56. The stock had a trading volume of 2,900,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,419,853. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock's 50 day moving average is $29.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.42. News Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $31.66. The stock has a market cap of $15.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70 and a beta of 0.97.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.25 billion. News had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 6.35%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that News Corporation will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 68.0%. News's payout ratio is presently 19.42%.

News Company Profile

News Corp NASDAQ: NWSA is a global media and information-services company that creates and distributes news, business information, books, digital content and real estate services. Its operations serve consumers, professionals, institutions and businesses across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other international markets.

The company's Dow Jones division provides business and financial news, data and information through publications and platforms including The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch, Factiva and Dow Jones Newswires.

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