Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 377 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,036 shares of the company’s stock after selling 377 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in News were worth $2,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in News by 6.1% in 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 last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of News by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,832,000 after buying an additional 8,144,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 90,419 shares during the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd increased its holdings in shares of News by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 6,779,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,528,000 after buying an additional 555,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of News by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,337,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,512,000 after buying an additional 53,550 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Price Performance

News stock opened at $29.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.34 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.26. News Co. has a 1 year low of $22.65 and a 1 year high of $30.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.61.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released 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 net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. On average, research analysts forecast that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on NWSA shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. 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. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Six research 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 an average price target of $39.25.

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.