Sciencast Management LP Makes New $3.02 Million Investment in News Corporation $NWSA

Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 111,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,022,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in News by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 11,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in News by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in News by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in News by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the period. Finally, Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of News by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 23,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $29.44 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.15 and a beta of 1.18. News Corporation has a one year low of $23.38 and a one year high of $30.75.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. News had a return on equity of 5.66% and a net margin of 13.21%.News’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a half year 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 70.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NWSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of News in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $32.70 price objective on shares of News in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of News from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.62.

News Company 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.