Groupama Asset Managment Takes $1.39 Million Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 50,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,385,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of News by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 120,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,330,000 after buying an additional 43,199 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in News by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,857,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,798,000 after acquiring an additional 234,893 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in News by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in News by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,662,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,783,000 after purchasing an additional 66,913 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of News in the 4th quarter valued at about $286,000. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NWSA stock opened at $27.06 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $28.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65. News Co. has a 1-year low of $22.65 and a 1-year high of $30.69. The company has a market cap of $15.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07 and a beta of 1.34.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (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, research analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. News’s payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NWSA. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, News presently has a consensus 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.