Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 9,924 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,552 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,924 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in News were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in News by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,447,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,282,000 after purchasing an additional 204,637 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in News by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,251,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,603,235 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of News by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,140,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,068,000 after acquiring an additional 984,209 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of News by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,462,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,342,000 after acquiring an additional 285,383 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of News during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,513,000. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. TheStreet raised shares of News from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Macquarie raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.50.

News Stock Down 0.2 %

News stock opened at $24.56 on Thursday. News Co. has a 1-year low of $16.35 and a 1-year high of $28.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.40 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.86.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.06. News had a net margin of 2.29% and a return on equity of 4.14%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 EPS. News’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.8%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.00%.

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 in six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.