Marshall Wace LLP Decreases Stock Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Marshall Wace LLP lowered its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 57.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,346 shares of the company’s stock after selling 85,744 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in News were worth $1,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in News during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of News by 95.1% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of News in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in News by 125.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in News during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $26.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $14.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.61 and a beta of 1.34. News Co. has a twelve month low of $19.58 and a twelve month high of $28.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.50.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. News had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 4.51%. The firm had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. News’s payout ratio is currently 55.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWSA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on News from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of News from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, News currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.00.

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 in six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.