Headlands Technologies LLC Acquires 43,199 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 55.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,927 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,199 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in News were worth $3,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NWSA. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in News by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,857,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,798,000 after buying an additional 234,893 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of News by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in News by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,662,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,783,000 after purchasing an additional 66,913 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp bought a new stake in News during the 4th quarter valued at $286,000. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS grew its position in shares of News by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 60,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,680,000 after buying an additional 1,425 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA opened at $27.22 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $15.44 billion, a PE ratio of 37.29 and a beta of 1.34. News Co. has a 12 month low of $22.65 and a 12 month high of $30.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $28.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.81.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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