Asset Value Investors Ltd Takes $122.39 Million Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Asset Value Investors Ltd purchased a new stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,444,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $122,391,000. News makes up approximately 54.8% of Asset Value Investors Ltd's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Asset Value Investors Ltd owned approximately 0.78% of News at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of News during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of News in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of News in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in News by 49.7% during 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 during the period. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Stock Up 0.2%

News stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $28.40. The company had a trading volume of 2,495,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,823,581. The stock has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.90 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. News Co. has a 1 year low of $23.38 and a 1 year high of $30.69. The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.96 and a 200 day moving average of $27.87.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 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 analysts' expectations of $2 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of News from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, News presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.20.

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.