Bank of America Corp DE Decreases Stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 76.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 419,057 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,349,608 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.07% of News worth $11,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in NWSA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in News by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,952,317 shares of the company's stock worth $1,403,227,000 after buying an additional 632,721 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of News by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 26,617,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $733,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812,080 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in News by 124.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company's stock worth $391,832,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,856 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in News by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 11,662,685 shares of the company's stock worth $321,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245,278 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in News by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,857,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $270,798,000 after purchasing an additional 234,893 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NWSA traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.18. 2,770,705 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,309,593. The stock's 50-day moving average is $26.91 and its 200-day moving average is $27.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $23.38 and a fifty-two week high of $30.69. The company has a market cap of $15.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.60 and a beta of 1.30.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.02). News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. News's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Seaport Res Ptn raised News to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of News from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, News currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $39.20.

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.