Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Buys 1,133,004 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in News Corporation by 34.2%, owning 4,450,150 shares valued at $121.13 million as of the latest quarter.
• News Corporation recently reported earnings of $0.19 per share, meeting analyst expectations, with a revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, exceeding estimates.
• The company declared a half-year dividend of $0.10 per share, with an ex-dividend date of September 10th, providing a dividend yield of 70.0%.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 34.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,450,150 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,133,004 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.79% of News worth $121,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of News by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,764,497 shares of the company's stock worth $1,409,030,000 after purchasing an additional 812,180 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of News by 2.2% during the first quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 27,189,590 shares of the company's stock worth $740,101,000 after purchasing an additional 572,331 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in shares of News by 18.7% during 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 in the last quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of News by 24.4% during the first quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 11,147,654 shares of the company's stock worth $303,439,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of News by 1.5% during 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 in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Trading Down 1.0%

NWSA traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.23. The stock had a trading volume of 4,751,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,604,052. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $29.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 1.18. News Corporation has a 1-year low of $23.38 and a 1-year high of $30.75.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.19. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. News had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 5.66%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a yield of 70.0%. News's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NWSA shares. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.70 price objective on shares of News in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, News has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.62.

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.