Panagora Asset Management Inc. Has $1.79 Million Stake in News Corporation $NWS

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in News Corporation by 167.0% during the first quarter, owning 58,913 shares valued at approximately $1.79 million by the end of the period.
• News Corporation reported $0.19 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, and announced a $0.10 semi-annual dividend with a yield of 60.0% set to be paid on October 8th.
• Zacks Research recently downgraded News to a "strong sell" rating, while other analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Buy" with two firms giving a strong buy indication.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS - Free Report) by 167.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,913 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 36,850 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in News were worth $1,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in News by 75.3% in the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 964 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of News by 9.6% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,837 shares of the company's stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of News by 20.3% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 3,210 shares of the company's stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of News by 7.7% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,578 shares of the company's stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of News by 14.9% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,711 shares of the company's stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Zacks Research raised shares of News to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy".

News Price Performance

Shares of NWS traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.40. 378,838 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 711,781. News Corporation has a one year low of $26.25 and a one year high of $35.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.94 and a 200 day moving average of $32.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06 and a beta of 1.18.

News (NASDAQ:NWS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. News had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 5.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.09 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that News Corporation will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 60.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. News's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.62%.

News Profile

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.