WINTON GROUP Ltd Takes Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 27,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $761,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NWSA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of News by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,952,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,403,227,000 after buying an additional 632,721 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of News by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,799,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $689,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,476,224 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of News by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,832,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of News by 0.9% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in News by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,420,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,733,000 after purchasing an additional 82,577 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on NWSA shares. UBS Group upgraded News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital reduced 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. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.25.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ NWSA opened at $26.59 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.09 billion, a PE ratio of 36.43 and a beta of 1.34. 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.

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 return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. Analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio 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.