Amundi Boosts Holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Amundi grew its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 29.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,967,128 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 449,938 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in News were worth $54,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased 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 buying an additional 1,005 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of News in the third quarter worth $39,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of News in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of News by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of News in the third quarter worth $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NWSA shares. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital dropped their price target 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. UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

News Stock Performance

News stock opened at $26.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $15.29 billion, a PE ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.83. 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 12 month low of $22.65 and a 12 month high of $30.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. Research analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.