News Corporation $NWSA Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 885,557 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,902 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in News were worth $22,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in News by 5.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of News during the 1st quarter worth about $206,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of News in the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of News by 44.4% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 16,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 5,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in News during the second quarter worth approximately $545,000. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Citigroup decreased their target price on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of News in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, News has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.14.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA stock opened at $27.73 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $15.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.48. News Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $31.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.05. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 0.92 EPS for the current year.

About News

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company’s news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world’s largest consumer publishers.