Norges Bank Invests $172.36 Million in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,258,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $172,357,000. Norges Bank owned 1.10% of News at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NWSA. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of News by 124.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,832,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,856 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in News by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 180,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,801,000 after buying an additional 37,702 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in News by 381.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 192,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,138,000 after acquiring an additional 152,864 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in News by 30.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,458,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,850,000 after acquiring an additional 338,958 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of News by 108.0% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 215,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,743,000 after acquiring an additional 111,987 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup started coverage on shares of News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA opened at $26.59 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. News Co. has a 12 month low of $22.65 and a 12 month high of $30.69. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43 and a beta of 1.34.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. Research analysts forecast that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio 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.