AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in News Corporation $NWSA

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 111.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,381,671 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 729,423 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.24% of News worth $36,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in News during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position 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 valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,571 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in News in the 1st quarter valued at $73,000. CX Institutional acquired a new position in News during the first quarter worth $76,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in News by 714.9% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 3,889 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

News Trading Down 2.2%

NWSA traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $28.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,806,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,354,394. The stock has a market cap of $16.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 1.18. News Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $23.38 and a fifty-two week high of $30.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The business's 50-day moving average is $29.46 and its 200-day moving average is $28.15.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. News had a return on equity of 5.66% and a net margin of 13.21%.The company's quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that News Corporation will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

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

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.