News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Given New $37.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $38.00 to $37.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 44.97% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup began coverage on shares of News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.80.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.52. The company had a trading volume of 662,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,772,905. News has a 1 year low of $22.65 and a 1 year high of $30.69. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.72. 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 company has a market capitalization of $14.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.91 and a beta of 1.24.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that News will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of News

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its position in News by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,832,000 after buying an additional 8,144,856 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of News by 30.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,458,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,850,000 after acquiring an additional 338,958 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of News by 381.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 192,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,138,000 after purchasing an additional 152,864 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of News in the fourth quarter worth about $374,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in News by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 435,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,594,000 after purchasing an additional 12,345 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Company 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.