Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Makes New $79.84 Million Investment in News Corporation $NWSA

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management purchased 2.79 million News Corp Class A shares worth approximately $79.84 million, giving it a 0.52% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 66.97% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with six Buy ratings and one Hold rating. News has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $37.80, above its reported $30.43 share price.
• News exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.35 in earnings per share versus the $0.21 consensus estimate and $2.34 billion in revenue, up 10.8% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,786,746 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $79,840,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned 0.52% of News as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in News during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in News by 282.7% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,032 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,501 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of News by 96.2% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of News by 79.0% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,682 shares of the company's stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of News by 26.5% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,299 shares of the company's stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NWSA. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of News in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised News from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of News from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of News in a report on Monday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.80.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA opened at $30.43 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.65. News Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $31.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.54 and a beta of 0.97.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.14. News had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 6.35%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. News's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 68.0%. News's payout ratio is 19.42%.

News Company Profile

News Corp is a global media and information-services company whose Class A common stock trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol NWSA. The company operates a portfolio of businesses spanning digital and print publishing, subscription products, professional information, real estate services and book publishing.

Its principal businesses include Dow Jones, which provides financial news, data, research and professional information through publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Barron's; News Corp Australia and News UK, which operate newspapers and digital news platforms; and HarperCollins Publishers, which publishes fiction, nonfiction, educational and religious titles.

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