News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Shares Sold by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lessened its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 55.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,459 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,657 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in News were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of News by 124.0% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of News during the fourth quarter worth $172,357,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in News by 374.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,160,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,488,000 after buying an additional 1,704,944 shares during the period. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in News during the 3rd quarter worth $44,585,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of News by 6.1% in the 3rd 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. 66.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA stock opened at $24.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market cap of $13.95 billion, a PE ratio of 33.67 and a beta of 1.34. News Co. has a 1 year low of $22.65 and a 1 year high of $30.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.78.

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

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given 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 1.63%. News’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on NWSA. Citigroup started coverage on shares of News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim increased their price objective on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.25.

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.