Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 27,216 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 846,098 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,216 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in News were worth $23,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of News during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $990,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in News by 124.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,832,000 after acquiring an additional 8,144,856 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in News by 313.6% in the third quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 35,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $936,000 after acquiring an additional 26,648 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of News by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,337,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,512,000 after purchasing an additional 53,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of News by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 180,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,801,000 after purchasing an additional 37,702 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim increased their price target on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, News presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

News Stock Up 0.9 %

NWSA opened at $29.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.16 and a 200-day moving average of $27.61. The company has a market capitalization of $16.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.34 and a beta of 1.35. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.65 and a fifty-two week high of $30.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.73.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. On average, equities analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.