News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Shares Bought by Amundi

Amundi grew its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 29.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,967,128 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 449,938 shares during the period. Amundi owned 0.35% of News worth $54,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of News by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 11,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of News by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of News by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of News by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 12,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of News by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NWSA shares. UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Six equities research 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 has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.25.

News Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ NWSA opened at $26.94 on Wednesday. News Co. has a one year low of $22.65 and a one year high of $30.69. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.83. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 1.34.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

News 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.