News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.20.

News Price Performance

Shares of NWSA traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.94. 4,169,472 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,847,187. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.82 billion, a PE ratio of 38.27 and a beta of 1.30. News has a fifty-two week low of $23.38 and a fifty-two week high of $30.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.84.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. The firm's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that News will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in News by 2,392.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of News during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of News during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of News during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in News by 12,084.6% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,584 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,571 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.