Vestcor Inc Cuts Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Vestcor Inc decreased its holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 48.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,591 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,318 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in News were worth $126,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of News in the fourth quarter worth $208,000. Inspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of News by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 22,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of News by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 55,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,342 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of News by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,967,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,037,000 after acquiring an additional 449,938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of News by 2,392.9% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ NWSA opened at $26.80 on Wednesday. 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 capitalization of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 36.71 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.78.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 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%. As a group, analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. News’s payout ratio is 27.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWSA has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of 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 shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.