Rhumbline Advisers Buys 66,030 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 746,253 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 66,030 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.13% of News worth $20,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NWSA. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of News by 2,392.9% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in News during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in News during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in News by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of News by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,334 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NWSA shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of News in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, News presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.20.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.81. 3,456,551 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,853,191. News Co. has a 52 week low of $23.38 and a 52 week high of $30.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $27.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.83. The company has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.10 and a beta of 1.23.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. The business had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.