State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 1,015 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lessened its holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,199 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,015 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in News were worth $1,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NWSA. Barclays PLC raised its stake in News by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,832,000 after acquiring an additional 8,144,856 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake 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 valued at $59,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,704,944 shares during the period. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in News in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,585,000. State Street Corp raised 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 valued at $689,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,476,224 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in News by 1,815.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,413,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,632,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim increased their price objective on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Loop Capital lowered 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. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, News presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

News Stock Performance

NWSA opened at $29.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.22 and a beta of 1.35. News Co. has a 52-week low of $22.65 and a 52-week high of $30.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.15 and its 200-day moving average is $27.63.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.40%.

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.