Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Acquires 12,485 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 52.9% 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 owned 36,068 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,485 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in News were worth $993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in News by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,952,317 shares of the company's stock worth $1,403,227,000 after acquiring an additional 632,721 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of News by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 26,617,259 shares of the company's stock worth $733,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812,080 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in News by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,832,000 after buying an additional 8,144,856 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its position in News by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 11,662,685 shares of the company's stock worth $321,190,000 after buying an additional 1,245,278 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in News by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,857,139 shares of the company's stock worth $270,798,000 after purchasing an additional 234,893 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on NWSA. Citigroup began coverage on News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised News from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised shares of News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.80.

News Price Performance

Shares of News stock traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.92. 548,028 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,818,830. The company has a market cap of $15.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.84 and a beta of 1.24. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.65 and a fifty-two week high of $30.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.74.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. News's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.40%.

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.