National Bank of Canada FI Trims Stock Holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS)

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,324 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,931 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in News were worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of News by 123.7% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in News by 136.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in News by 2,892.8% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 1,996 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of News by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of News by 72.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

News Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NWS opened at $27.54 on Wednesday. News Co. has a twelve month low of $23.99 and a twelve month high of $35.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.73 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.68.

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

News Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of 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.