Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 6,953 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 428,435 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,953 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.08% of News worth $11,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of News in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in News during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in News in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of News by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of News in the fourth quarter worth $137,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on NWSA shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup assumed coverage on News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

News Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ NWSA opened at $28.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.44 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.80. 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 one year low of $22.65 and a one year high of $30.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.40%.

About News

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.