News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) Shares Bought by ING Groep NV

Key Points

• ING Groep NV increased its stake in News Corporation by 250.3% in Q1, acquiring a total of 276,386 shares valued at approximately $7.52 million.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed reviews on NWSA, with sixes issuing buy ratings while one analyst downgraded the stock from "buy" to "hold".
• Despite a revenue increase of 0.8% year-over-year, News Corporation missed EPS estimates for the last quarter, reporting $0.17 compared to the expected $0.19.

ING Groep NV increased its holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 250.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 276,386 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 197,492 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in News were worth $7,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NWSA. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of News by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 59,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,634,000 after acquiring an additional 4,493 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in News by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,962 shares of the company's stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in News in the 4th quarter valued at $3,014,000. Aviva PLC grew its position in News by 1,458.2% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 228,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,303,000 after buying an additional 214,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in News by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 458,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,617,000 after buying an additional 5,836 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NWSA. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and set a $32.70 target price on shares of News in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, News currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.12.

News Price Performance

Shares of News stock traded down $0.45 on Friday, hitting $28.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,740,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,004,550. News Corporation has a 52-week low of $23.38 and a 52-week high of $30.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.06. The company has a market capitalization of $16.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 1.23.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that News Corporation will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

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

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.