News Corporation $NWS Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its shareholding in News Corporation by 34.3%, selling 65,171 shares during the first quarter, meaning they now own 124,863 shares valued at approximately $3.79 million.
• Vanguard Group has increased its stake in News by 5.3%, owning 6,879,273 shares worth around $208.92 million, positioning it as one of the largest institutional investors in the company.
• News Corporation has declared a semi-annual dividend of $0.10 per share, with a dividend yield of 60.0%, scheduled for payment on October 8th.

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS - Free Report) by 34.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 124,863 shares of the company's stock after selling 65,171 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in News were worth $3,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of News by 5.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,273 shares of the company's stock valued at $208,924,000 after purchasing an additional 344,036 shares during the period. 59 North Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of News by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 4,345,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,237,000 after purchasing an additional 986,781 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of News by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,965,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,799,000 after purchasing an additional 160,922 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of News by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 939,188 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,579,000 after purchasing an additional 10,716 shares during the period. Finally, Metropolis Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of News by 11.8% in the first quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 609,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,513,000 after purchasing an additional 64,248 shares during the period. 14.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Price Performance

Shares of NWS traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $33.87. 595,782 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 791,653. The stock has a market cap of $19.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.18. News Corporation has a 1-year low of $26.25 and a 1-year high of $35.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.99 and a 200-day moving average of $32.36. 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:NWS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. The firm 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%. Analysts expect that News Corporation will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 60.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. News's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Zacks Research raised News to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy".

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.