News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Stock Price Crosses Below 50 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) crossed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.81 and traded as low as $28.99. News shares last traded at $29.31, with a volume of 4,128,063 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWSA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered News from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on News in a research note on Monday, October 19th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised News from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, News has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.80.

News Stock Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is $29.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.88. The company has a market capitalization of $15.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. News had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 7.09%. News's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that News Corporation will post 1.30 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 68.0%. News's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On News

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in News by 2.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,245,597 shares of the company's stock worth $105,842,000 after purchasing an additional 94,368 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in News by 80.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,069,041 shares of the company's stock worth $101,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819,652 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. bought a new stake in News in the third quarter worth approximately $79,840,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in News by 120.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,326,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,002,000 after buying an additional 1,272,083 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in News by 174.3% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,911,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,649,000 after buying an additional 1,214,648 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company's stock.

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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