Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Grows Position in News Corporation $NWSA

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its holdings in News Corporation by 79.1%, owning 335,264 shares valued at approximately $9.1 million as of the last reporting period.
• News Corporation reported a quarterly revenue of $2.11 billion, slightly surpassing analysts' expectations, along with an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.19, matching forecasts.
• The company announced a dividend of $0.10 per share, to be paid on October 8th, reflecting a 70.0% dividend yield and a low payout ratio of 9.62%.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 79.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 335,264 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 148,081 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned approximately 0.06% of News worth $9,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in News by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,764,497 shares of the company's stock worth $1,409,030,000 after acquiring an additional 812,180 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its stake in News by 2.2% during the first quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 27,189,590 shares of the company's stock valued at $740,101,000 after buying an additional 572,331 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in shares of News by 18.7% in the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,846,298 shares of the company's stock worth $376,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,183,613 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of News by 1.5% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,391,564 shares of the company's stock worth $146,758,000 after purchasing an additional 80,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contour Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of News by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 5,382,702 shares of the company's stock worth $148,240,000 after purchasing an additional 936,702 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Trading Down 0.2%

NWSA opened at $29.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 1.18. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $29.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.15. News Corporation has a one year low of $23.38 and a one year high of $30.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.84.

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

News Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWSA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of News in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.70 target price on shares of News in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.62.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on NWSA

News Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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