Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 46,776 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 18.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 298,102 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 46,776 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in News were worth $7,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NWSA. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in News by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 36,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in News by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in News by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. boosted its holdings in News by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 8,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in News by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 91,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,386,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on NWSA shares. Zacks Research raised shares of News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of News in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.14.

News Stock Performance

News stock opened at $25.77 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $25.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market cap of $14.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 0.89. News Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $31.61.

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

News Company Profile

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.