Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Grows Holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,054,112 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,045 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in News were worth $56,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in News by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of News by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in News by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 12,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in News by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the period. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its holdings in News by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 60,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

News Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of News stock opened at $26.94 on Friday. News Co. has a twelve month low of $22.65 and a twelve month high of $30.69. The stock has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.77.

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

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given 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 payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

News Company 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.