Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. Decreases Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lowered its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,800,202 shares of the company's stock after selling 604,305 shares during the period. News comprises 1.6% of Burgundy Asset Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 1.02% of News worth $159,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of News by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,952,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,403,227,000 after acquiring an additional 632,721 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of News by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 26,617,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $733,039,000 after acquiring an additional 2,812,080 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of News by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,832,000 after acquiring an additional 8,144,856 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in shares of News by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 11,662,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $321,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of News by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,857,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $270,798,000 after acquiring an additional 234,893 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company's stock.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.25. The company had a trading volume of 4,837,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,323,544. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $26.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.86. News Co. has a 52-week low of $23.38 and a 52-week high of $30.69. The stock has a market cap of $15.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.70 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 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 analyst estimates of $2 billion. News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of News in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group upgraded News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, News currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $39.20.

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.