Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lowered its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,754 shares of the company’s stock after selling 769 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in News were worth $819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NWSA. State Street Corp increased its stake in News by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,799,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476,224 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of News by 124.0% in the third 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 increased its stake in shares of News by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,622,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,457,000 after buying an additional 90,419 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in News by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,337,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,512,000 after buying an additional 53,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in News by 374.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,160,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704,944 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NWSA shares. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital cut their price objective on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group upgraded News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

News Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $28.62 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.21 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.82. News Co. has a 52-week low of $22.65 and a 52-week 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s 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.