News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Shares Sold by West Tower Group LLC

West Tower Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 43.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,520 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,865 shares during the period. West Tower Group LLC’s holdings in News were worth $427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWSA. Barclays PLC lifted its position in News by 124.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,832,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,856 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of News by 374.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,160,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704,944 shares during the period. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of News in the third quarter worth about $44,585,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of News by 6.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,799,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,476,224 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of News by 1,815.4% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,413,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,632,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,379 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $26.80 on Wednesday. News Co. has a 12-month low of $22.65 and a 12-month high of $30.69. The stock has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 36.71 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 50-day moving average of $28.18 and a 200 day moving average of $27.78.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NWSA shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, News currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.25.

About News

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.