Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Purchases 37,521 Shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 24.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 189,214 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 37,521 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in News were worth $5,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in News during the 4th quarter valued at $2,726,000. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in News by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 12,518 shares of the company's stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its stake in News by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 45,349 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in News by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd raised its stake in News by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd now owns 364,396 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,035,000 after buying an additional 121,147 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.20.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.73. The company had a trading volume of 2,376,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,935,235. 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 company has a market cap of $16.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57 and a beta of 1.23. News Corporation has a 12-month low of $23.38 and a 12-month high of $30.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.73.

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