News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 43.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,807 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,629 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in News were worth $420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of News by 4.6% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of News by 101.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 496,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,889,000 after acquiring an additional 249,659 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of News by 72.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of News by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in News by 1.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 137,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,830,000 after purchasing an additional 2,609 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWS opened at $30.26 on Friday. News Co. has a 12 month low of $23.99 and a 12 month high of $35.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.45 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.57.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that News Co. will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. 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.