Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Raises Stock Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 120.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,897 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,583 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in News were worth $71,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in News during the 3rd quarter worth $253,000. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in News by 1,732.4% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 96,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,379,000 after buying an additional 91,610 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in News by 321.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,155,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,171,000 after acquiring an additional 880,977 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in News by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 96,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,937,000 after acquiring an additional 24,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new position in News during the 3rd quarter worth $496,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $24.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $16.35 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.74. The company has a market cap of $13.72 billion, a PE ratio of 60.05 and a beta of 1.33.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced 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 the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

About News

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.