News Corporation $NWSA Stock Position Raised by NewEdge Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Institutional investors increased their News Corp. holdings: NewEdge Advisors raised its position by 39.3% to 153,553 shares, while total institutional ownership reached 66.97%.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable: News has an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $38.50, despite some mixed recent rating changes.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: News reported $0.35 in adjusted EPS versus the $0.21 estimate and revenue of $2.34 billion, up 10.8% year over year. The company also declared a $0.10-per-share dividend.

NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 39.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 153,553 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 43,324 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in News were worth $3,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of News by 328.0% in the 1st quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 372,518 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,287,000 after purchasing an additional 285,472 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in News by 80.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,069,041 shares of the company's stock worth $101,441,000 after buying an additional 1,819,652 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems acquired a new position in News during the first quarter worth $1,025,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in News by 82.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 405,050 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,092,000 after buying an additional 182,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bull Harbor Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of News in the first quarter worth about $249,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NWSA. Citigroup lowered their price objective on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of News from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of News in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut News from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.50.

News Price Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $28.67 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $15.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.83 and a beta of 0.88. News Corporation has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $31.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. News had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. Analysts anticipate that News Corporation will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 68.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. News's payout ratio is currently 19.42%.

News Company 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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