News Corporation $NWSA Shares Sold by UBS Group AG

Key Points

• UBS Group AG cut its stake in News Corporation by 24.5% in Q4, selling 875,001 shares and leaving it with 2,703,594 shares (about 0.48% of the company) valued at roughly $70.6 million.
• News Corp beat quarterly expectations with $0.40 EPS versus a $0.33 consensus and reported $2.36 billion in revenue (up 5.5% year-over-year); the company has a market cap of $14.33 billion and a PE of 12.71.
• Several large institutions materially increased holdings—AQR, State Street, Barclays and Invesco among them—leaving institutional and hedge fund ownership at about 66.97% of the stock.

UBS Group AG reduced its position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 24.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,703,594 shares of the company's stock after selling 875,001 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned approximately 0.48% of News worth $70,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NWSA. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of News by 488.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,124,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $241,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,742,836 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of News by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,356,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $965,673,000 after buying an additional 4,448,929 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of News by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,875,615 shares of the company's stock valued at $456,830,000 after buying an additional 4,214,562 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of News by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,706,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $236,662,000 after buying an additional 2,449,552 shares during the period. Finally, 59 North Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of News by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 14,009,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $430,224,000 after buying an additional 1,358,375 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Price Performance

NWSA stock opened at $25.80 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. News Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $31.61. The stock's 50 day moving average is $24.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.39. The company has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.89.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.07. News had a return on equity of 5.94% and a net margin of 13.35%.The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. News's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that News Corporation will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a yield of 83.0%. News's payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on NWSA. Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Citigroup dropped their target price on News from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research upgraded News from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $32.40 target price on News in a report on Friday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.02.

News Profile

News Corporation NASDAQ: NWSA is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company's news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron's, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world's largest consumer publishers.

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