News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Shares Purchased by Man Group plc

Man Group plc boosted its holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 260.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 265,757 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 192,033 shares during the period. Man Group plc's holdings in News were worth $7,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWSA. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of News by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,576 shares of the company's stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of News by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,334 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of News by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 12,518 shares of the company's stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised News to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised News from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of News in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $39.20.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $28.33 on Tuesday. News Co. has a twelve month low of $23.38 and a twelve month high of $30.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.81 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.89.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.02). News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. News's revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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