NewEdge Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in News Corporation $NWSA

NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 41.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 216,552 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,999 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in News were worth $5,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its stake in News by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 29,934,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $781,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137,691 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in News by 2,325.7% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 13,326,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,891,000 after buying an additional 12,776,882 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of News by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,458,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,169,000 after buying an additional 88,157 shares during the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of News by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 8,835,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,260,000 after buying an additional 1,843,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wisconsin Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of News by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 7,365,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,383,000 after acquiring an additional 275,480 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $30.56 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.67. The stock has a market cap of $16.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.67 and a beta of 0.91. News Corporation has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $31.66.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. News had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 6.35%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that News Corporation will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a yield of 68.0%. News’s dividend payout ratio is 19.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWSA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of News in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.50.

About News

News Corp is a global media and information-services company headquartered in New York. The company owns and operates businesses in news, publishing, digital real estate services and subscription-based information products, serving consumers, businesses and professional audiences across multiple markets.

Its portfolio includes Dow Jones, which provides business news, financial information and research through publications and services such as The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s; News UK, publisher of The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun; and News Corp Australia, which operates newspapers and digital media brands.