Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 2,071,640 Shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 95.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,405 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,071,640 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in News were worth $2,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in News by 2,392.9% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new stake in News in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in News in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in News in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in News by 49.7% in 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 in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NWSA. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of News in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $39.20.

News Price Performance

News stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.06. 3,067,645 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,999,303. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.74. News Corporation has a 12 month low of $23.38 and a 12 month high of $30.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $15.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.55 and a beta of 1.23.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. News had a net margin of 5.18% and a return on equity of 5.64%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that News Corporation will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.