News Corporation $NWSA Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Key Points

• Vontobel Holding Ltd. significantly reduced its holdings in News Corporation by 70.0%, selling 36,750 shares and leaving it with a total of 15,776 shares valued at $469,000.
• A diverse group of institutional investors increased their stakes in News Corporation, with Vanguard raising its position by 1.6% to own over 51 million shares, valued at approximately $1.41 billion.
• Research firms have mixed ratings for News Corporation, with prices targets ranging from $32.70 to $40.00 and an average rating of "Buy." The company's recent earnings report matched expectations with $0.19 EPS.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 70.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,776 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,750 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in News were worth $469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of News by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,764,497 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,409,030,000 after buying an additional 812,180 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in shares of News by 2.2% in the first quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 27,189,590 shares of the company's stock valued at $740,101,000 after buying an additional 572,331 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its position in shares of News by 18.7% in the first 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 last quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of News by 24.4% in the first quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 11,147,654 shares of the company's stock valued at $303,439,000 after buying an additional 2,185,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metropolis Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of News by 15.1% in the second quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 5,694,353 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,236,000 after buying an additional 747,744 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NWSA. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.70 price objective on shares of News in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of News in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, News has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $38.62.

News Price Performance

NWSA opened at $26.64 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. News Corporation has a 52-week low of $23.38 and a 52-week high of $31.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.41. The company has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.17.

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

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a half year 25 dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 70.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 10th. News's payout ratio is currently 9.62%.

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.

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