News Corporation $NWSA Shares Sold by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank cut its stake in News Corporation by 89.0%, selling 842,375 shares in the quarter and retaining 104,511 shares worth $2.73 million.
• Other large institutions added to positions — notably AQR (+488% to 8.12M shares), State Street (31.36M shares) and Barclays (14.88M shares) — leaving institutional investors with about 66.97% ownership.
• News beat quarterly expectations with $0.40 EPS vs. $0.33 estimated and $2.36B revenue, paid a $0.10 dividend in April, and carries a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a $37.02 price target.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank decreased its position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 89.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,511 shares of the company's stock after selling 842,375 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in News were worth $2,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWSA. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in News by 488.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,124,507 shares of the company's stock worth $241,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,742,836 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in News by 16.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,356,593 shares of the company's stock worth $965,673,000 after purchasing an additional 4,448,929 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in News by 39.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,875,615 shares of the company's stock worth $456,830,000 after purchasing an additional 4,214,562 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in News by 46.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,706,339 shares of the company's stock worth $236,662,000 after purchasing an additional 2,449,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 59 North Capital Management LP raised its holdings in News by 10.7% during the third quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 14,009,242 shares of the company's stock worth $430,224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358,375 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company's stock.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA opened at $26.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 0.91. The company's fifty day moving average is $24.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.39. News Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $31.61.

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

News Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on NWSA shares. Zacks Research raised shares of News from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of News from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $32.40 target price on shares of 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, News has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.02.

About News

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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