HBK Investments L P Acquires 9,250 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Key Points

• HBK Investments L P increased its stake in News Corporation (NWSA) by 0.8%, owning approximately $30.2 million in shares, which accounts for 0.8% of their total holdings.
• Several other institutional investors have also made significant adjustments to their positions in News, with some increasing their holdings by over 12,000%.
• Wall Street analysts have varying outlooks on News, with an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.62, reflecting expectations for future growth.

HBK Investments L P lifted its holdings in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,110,000 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,250 shares during the quarter. News makes up about 0.8% of HBK Investments L P's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. HBK Investments L P owned 0.20% of News worth $30,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in News by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 11,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of News by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,575 shares of the company's stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of News by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,103 shares of the company's stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in News by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. increased its stake in shares of News by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 23,629 shares of the company's stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on NWSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and set 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 note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of News in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $38.62.

News Trading Up 0.5%

News stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.44. The company had a trading volume of 3,321,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,093,407. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $23.38 and a 12-month high of $30.75. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $29.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.15 and a beta of 1.18.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that News Corporation will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a half year 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors 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 is currently 9.62%.

About News

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.