Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 42,534 News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 42,534 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,171,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Greenland Capital Management LP acquired a new position in News during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $998,000. Capula Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of News by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Capula Management Ltd now owns 283,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,813,000 after buying an additional 49,442 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of News by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 50,585 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,393,000 after buying an additional 2,148 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of News by 53.7% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,609,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,863,000 after buying an additional 911,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its holdings in News by 204.2% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 22,891 shares of the company's stock worth $630,000 after acquiring an additional 15,365 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:NWSA traded down $0.42 on Friday, hitting $28.06. 4,454,906 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,790,913. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.82. News Co. has a 52 week low of $23.38 and a 52 week high of $30.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The company has a market cap of $15.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.44 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim raised their price target on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $38.80.

News Profile

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.