Graham Capital Management L.P. Has $9.19 Million Stake in News Corporation $NWSA

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in News Corporation by 48.6%, owning 337,779 shares worth approximately $9.19 million after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• The company reported earnings of $0.19 per share for the latest quarter, matching estimates, with a revenue of $2.11 billion, demonstrating a 0.8% year-over-year increase.
• News Corporation recently announced a dividend of $0.10 per share to be paid on October 8th, offering a dividend yield of 70.0%.

Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 48.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 337,779 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 110,472 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. owned about 0.06% of News worth $9,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Value Investors Ltd bought a new position in News in the 4th quarter worth $122,391,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in News by 291.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,941,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,088,000 after buying an additional 3,678,215 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in News in the first quarter valued at approximately $85,213,000. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in shares of News by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,846,298 shares of the company's stock valued at $376,896,000 after buying an additional 2,183,613 shares during the period. Finally, Contour Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of News by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 5,382,702 shares of the company's stock worth $148,240,000 after acquiring an additional 936,702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company's stock.

News Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.94. The stock had a trading volume of 4,479,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,230,364. News Corporation has a 52 week low of $23.38 and a 52 week high of $30.75. The company has a market cap of $16.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business's 50 day moving average is $29.46 and its 200-day moving average is $28.16.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.19. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. News had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 5.66%. The business's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of News in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Macquarie reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $32.70 price target on shares of News in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $38.62.

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.