Ion Asset Management Ltd. Takes $45.10 Million Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Ion Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,637,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,102,000. News comprises approximately 2.6% of Ion Asset Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Ion Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.29% of News as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of News by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,952,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,403,227,000 after acquiring an additional 632,721 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its stake in News by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 26,617,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $733,039,000 after acquiring an additional 2,812,080 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of News by 124.0% in the third 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. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of News by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 11,662,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,190,000 after buying an additional 1,245,278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of News by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,857,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,798,000 after purchasing an additional 234,893 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.80.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ NWSA opened at $26.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.74. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.65 and a fifty-two week high of $30.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.88 and a beta of 1.24.

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

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. News’s payout ratio is 27.40%.

News 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.