News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,890,000 shares, a decrease of 21.5% from the October 15th total of 7,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On News

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,476,224 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 8,144,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of News by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,622,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,457,000 after purchasing an additional 90,419 shares during the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd lifted its position in News by 8.9% during the third quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 6,779,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,528,000 after purchasing an additional 555,789 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in News by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,337,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,512,000 after purchasing an additional 53,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of News from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of News from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com lowered News from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on News from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.67.

News Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $28.62. 3,945,455 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,575,923. The company has a market cap of $16.27 billion, a PE ratio of 46.16 and a beta of 1.34. News has a 12 month low of $20.83 and a 12 month high of $30.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.94.

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.