News Corporation $NWS Stock: State of Alaska Department of Revenue Reduces Holdings

Key Points

• Alaska’s Department of Revenue cut its News Corp. stake by 76.3% in the third quarter, selling 36,269 shares and retaining 11,290 shares valued at approximately $358,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 14.63% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautiously positive, with News holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus based on one Buy and one Hold rating. The company’s latest quarterly earnings of $0.35 per share exceeded estimates of $0.24.
• NWS opened at $33.77, near its 12-month high of $35.76, with an $18.27 billion market capitalization. News also paid a $0.10 dividend, although the article’s reported 60.0% yield appears inconsistent with the stock price and dividend amount.

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lowered its position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS - Free Report) by 76.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,290 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,269 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in News were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NWS. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in News by 79.4% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,717 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of News by 21.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in News during the 2nd quarter valued at $65,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of News by 37.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of News in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $129,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NWS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of News in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Zacks Research lowered shares of News from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, News presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

News Price Performance

NWS opened at $33.77 on Monday. News Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.49 and a 12-month high of $35.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.79 and a beta of 0.96.

News (NASDAQ:NWS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.11. News had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. Equities analysts predict that News Corporation will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 60.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. News's payout ratio is presently 19.42%.

News Profile

News Corporation NASDAQ: NWS is a global media and information services company with businesses spanning news, publishing, digital real estate services and subscription-based content. The company operates through a portfolio of brands that serve consumers, professionals and businesses across multiple markets.

Its major operations include Dow Jones, which provides business news, financial information and data through publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Barron's; News Corp Australia and News UK, which publish newspapers and digital news platforms; and HarperCollins Publishers, a global book publishing company.

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