Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Cuts Stock Position in News Corporation $NWSA

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its holdings in News Corporation by 37.7%, now owning 24,931,154 shares valued at approximately $678.63 million.
• News Corporation reported earnings of $0.19 EPS for the last quarter, meeting expectations, with a total revenue of $2.11 billion.
• The company announced a dividend of $0.10 to be paid on October 8th, reflecting a 70.0% dividend yield.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 37.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,931,154 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,066,584 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 4.39% of News worth $678,627,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in News in the fourth quarter worth about $1,171,000. Mariner LLC increased its position in shares of News by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 59,026 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,626,000 after buying an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of News by 132.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 468,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,898,000 after buying an additional 266,803 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of News by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,963,881 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,706,000 after buying an additional 166,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of News by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 100,313 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,763,000 after buying an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company's stock.

News Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of News stock traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $30.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,959,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,495,766. News Corporation has a twelve month low of $23.38 and a twelve month high of $30.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $29.35 and a 200-day moving average of $28.15. The stock has a market cap of $17.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.84.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.19. News had a return on equity of 5.66% and a net margin of 13.21%.The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a half year 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 70.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. News's payout ratio is currently 9.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NWSA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.70 price objective on shares of News in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $38.62.

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.