Allstate Corp Purchases 12,217 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Key Points

• Allstate Corp has significantly increased its position in News Corporation, growing its holdings by 117.8% to a total value of $615,000 as of the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors also adjusted their stakes in News Corporation, with a total of 66.97% of the stock currently owned by such investors.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.19, meeting expectations, with revenue increasing by 0.8% year-over-year.

Allstate Corp increased its stake in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 117.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,584 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,217 shares during the period. Allstate Corp's holdings in News were worth $615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWSA. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in shares of News during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of News during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of News by 12,084.6% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,584 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,571 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional acquired a new position in shares of News during the 1st quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of News by 714.9% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,433 shares of the company's stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 3,889 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NWSA shares. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of News in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.70 target price on shares of News in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, News currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $38.62.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.41. The stock had a trading volume of 2,068,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,421,256. News Corporation has a twelve month low of $23.38 and a twelve month high of $30.75. The stock has a market cap of $16.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 1.23. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $29.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.17. 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 (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.19. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. News had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 5.66%. News's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a half year 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a yield of 70.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. News's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.62%.

News Company 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.