J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Has $2.30 Million Holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its stake in News Corporation by 9.2%, selling 8,601 shares during the 1st quarter, leaving it with 84,483 shares valued at $2.3 million.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on News Corporation, with one rating it as "hold" while others maintain "buy" ratings, reflecting an average target price of $39.20.
• News Corporation reported quarterly earnings of $0.17 EPS, which was below analyst expectations, though revenue increased by 0.8% year-over-year.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG cut its position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 84,483 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,601 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in News were worth $2,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large 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 first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 11,833 shares of the company's stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Boyar Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of News by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,203 shares of the company's stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 422 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 valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of News by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,465 shares of the company's stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of News in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $39.20.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.28. The company had a trading volume of 529,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,245,166. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $28.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.02. The company has a market capitalization of $16.57 billion, a PE ratio of 34.05 and a beta of 1.23. News Corporation has a one year low of $23.38 and a one year high of $30.75.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. News had a return on equity of 5.64% and a net margin of 5.18%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.