Aberdeen Group plc Acquires 45,885 Shares of News Corporation $NWS

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in News Corporation by 98% in Q1, acquiring 45,885 shares, bringing its total holdings to 92,719 shares valued at approximately $2.79 million.
• News Corporation reported earnings of $0.19 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue reaching $2.11 billion.
• The company announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.10, with an ex-dividend date on September 10th, reflecting a dividend yield of 60.0%.

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS - Free Report) by 98.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,719 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 45,885 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc's holdings in News were worth $2,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in News by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,273 shares of the company's stock worth $208,924,000 after purchasing an additional 344,036 shares in the last quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP increased its holdings in News by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 4,345,606 shares of the company's stock worth $132,237,000 after purchasing an additional 986,781 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in News by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,965,125 shares of the company's stock worth $59,799,000 after purchasing an additional 160,922 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in News by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 939,188 shares of the company's stock worth $28,579,000 after purchasing an additional 10,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metropolis Capital Ltd increased its holdings in News by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 609,566 shares of the company's stock worth $18,513,000 after purchasing an additional 64,248 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Zacks Research raised News to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy".

News Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NWS stock traded down $0.09 on Wednesday, hitting $34.20. The company had a trading volume of 96,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,625. The firm has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's 50-day moving average is $33.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.84. News Corporation has a twelve month low of $26.25 and a twelve month high of $35.58.

News (NASDAQ:NWS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.09 billion. News had a return on equity of 5.66% and a net margin of 13.21%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that News Corporation will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 60.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. News's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.62%.

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.