Independent Franchise Partners LLP Acquires 1,137,691 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,934,048 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,137,691 shares during the quarter. News comprises 5.0% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Independent Franchise Partners LLP owned approximately 0.05% of News worth $781,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NWSA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of News in the fourth quarter valued at about $188,788,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of News by 488.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,124,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,742,836 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in News by 2,348.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,664,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,961,000 after buying an additional 5,433,332 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in News by 16.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,356,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $965,673,000 after buying an additional 4,448,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in News by 39.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,875,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,830,000 after buying an additional 4,214,562 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $25.98 on Thursday. News Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $31.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.12 and a 200-day moving average of $25.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 0.88.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.05. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. News’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that News Corporation will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings raised News from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of News in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, News presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.14.

News Profile

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company’s news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world’s largest consumer publishers.