Royal Bank of Canada Buys 320,084 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 145.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 540,139 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 320,084 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.09% of News worth $14,876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of News by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company's stock worth $391,832,000 after acquiring an additional 8,144,856 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of News by 204.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 344,043 shares of the company's stock worth $9,447,000 after acquiring an additional 231,056 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of News by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 151,693 shares of the company's stock worth $4,216,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of News by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 38,289 shares of the company's stock worth $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 9,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of News by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,076 shares of the company's stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Stock Performance

NWSA traded up $0.06 during trading on Thursday, hitting $28.40. The stock had a trading volume of 2,495,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,819,851. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.87. The firm has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.90 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65. News Co. has a one year low of $23.38 and a one year high of $30.69.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised News from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of News in a report on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group raised News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.20.

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.