News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 55.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,901 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,466 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in News were worth $190,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in News by 2.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,855,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,729,000 after acquiring an additional 61,417 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in News by 0.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,317,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,328,000 after acquiring an additional 5,930 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in News by 2.2% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 919,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,075,000 after acquiring an additional 19,729 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in News by 28.3% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 858,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,472,000 after acquiring an additional 189,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in News by 13.8% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 679,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,747,000 after acquiring an additional 82,215 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $25.99 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $26.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.53. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $20.11 and a fifty-two week high of $28.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.50 and a beta of 1.34.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. News had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 4.51%. The business had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 11th. News’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of News from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of News from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, News presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.00.

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.