Swiss National Bank Acquires 71,800 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,099,075 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 71,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.20% of News worth $27,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in News during the 1st quarter valued at $461,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of News in the first quarter valued at $278,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of News by 43.9% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 21,637 shares of the company's stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 6,605 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of News during the 1st quarter worth about $318,000. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of News during the 1st quarter worth about $283,000. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWSA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of News in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Citigroup decreased their target price on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research upgraded News from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $37.14.

News Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of News stock opened at $26.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. News Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $31.61. The company has a market capitalization of $14.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $26.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.56.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.11 billion. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About News

News Corporation NASDAQ: NWSA is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company's news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron's, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world's largest consumer publishers.

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