Xponance Inc. Cuts Stock Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Xponance Inc. reduced its position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,208 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,823 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in News were worth $1,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of News in the 3rd quarter valued at about $990,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 8,144,856 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of News by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,337,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,512,000 after acquiring an additional 53,550 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of News by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 180,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,801,000 after acquiring an additional 37,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of News by 381.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 192,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,138,000 after acquiring an additional 152,864 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Down 0.4 %

NWSA stock opened at $27.04 on Friday. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.65 and a fifty-two week high of $30.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $28.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. The company has a market capitalization of $15.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.04 and a beta of 1.34.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. As a group, analysts forecast that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. News’s payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital lowered their target price on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set 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, February 10th. Seaport Res Ptn raised News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.25.

News Company 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.