Bank of New York Mellon Corp Acquires 125,852 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 845,246 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 125,852 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.15% of News worth $25,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NWS. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. raised its stake in shares of News by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 9,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in News by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 19,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in News by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 203,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,197,000 after purchasing an additional 7,238 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of News during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of News by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Trading Down 0.2 %

NWS stock opened at $31.82 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a PE ratio of 43.59 and a beta of 1.37. 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 12 month low of $23.99 and a 12 month high of $35.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.91 and its 200 day moving average is $30.38.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. On average, research analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

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.