Metropolis Capital Ltd Sells 2,337,279 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Metropolis Capital Ltd trimmed its holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 34.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,441,858 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,337,279 shares during the quarter. News comprises about 4.3% of Metropolis Capital Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Metropolis Capital Ltd’s holdings in News were worth $122,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NWSA. Profund Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of News by 17.7% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 12,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in News by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 72,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,994,000 after purchasing an additional 3,605 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in News by 74.2% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 6,379 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of News by 16.8% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 330,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,231,000 after buying an additional 47,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in shares of News by 59.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 72,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,987,000 after acquiring an additional 26,911 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Price Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $27.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.85 billion, a PE ratio of 44.95 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.54. News Co. has a 52 week low of $22.65 and a 52 week high of $30.03.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.05. News had a return on equity of 4.76% and a net margin of 3.49%. The company had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that News Co. will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NWSA shares. Guggenheim upped their price target on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of News from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.