Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Sells 13,627 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Key Points

• The Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec reduced its stake in News Corporation by 14.5%, selling 13,627 shares, and now holds 80,155 shares worth approximately $2.18 million.
• Analyst ratings for News Corporation include a target price increase by JPMorgan Chase from $38 to $40, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $38.62.
• News Corporation recently declared a dividend of $0.10 set to be paid on October 8th, yielding 70.0% based on its payout ratio of 9.62%.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lowered its holdings in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 14.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 80,155 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,627 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in News were worth $2,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of News by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,764,497 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,409,030,000 after purchasing an additional 812,180 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its holdings in News by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 27,189,590 shares of the company's stock worth $740,101,000 after acquiring an additional 572,331 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in News by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,846,298 shares of the company's stock worth $376,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,183,613 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in News by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,391,564 shares of the company's stock worth $146,758,000 after acquiring an additional 80,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metropolis Capital Ltd grew its holdings in News by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 4,946,609 shares of the company's stock worth $134,647,000 after acquiring an additional 504,751 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NWSA shares. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of News in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.70 target price on shares of News in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $38.62.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ NWSA traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.23. 4,751,894 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,604,052. News Corporation has a 52 week low of $23.38 and a 52 week high of $30.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business's fifty day moving average price is $29.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.17.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19. News had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 5.66%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a half year 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 70.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. News's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.62%.

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.