Asset Value Investors Ltd Has $100.63 Million Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Asset Value Investors Ltd reduced its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 16.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,696,935 shares of the company's stock after selling 747,165 shares during the period. News accounts for approximately 58.4% of Asset Value Investors Ltd's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Asset Value Investors Ltd owned about 0.65% of News worth $100,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NWSA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of News in the 4th quarter worth $172,357,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in News by 291.2% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,941,467 shares of the company's stock worth $136,088,000 after buying an additional 3,678,215 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its stake in News by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 26,617,259 shares of the company's stock worth $733,039,000 after buying an additional 2,812,080 shares during the period. 59 North Capital Management LP raised its stake in News by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 8,962,112 shares of the company's stock worth $246,817,000 after buying an additional 2,569,343 shares during the period. Finally, Ion Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in News during the 4th quarter worth $45,102,000. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.42. 2,606,164 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,872,106. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.56 and a beta of 1.23. News Co. has a one year low of $23.38 and a one year high of $30.69. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $27.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.75.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on NWSA shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of News in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given 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 an average price target of $39.20.

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.