State of Wisconsin Investment Board Has $192.38 Million Stake in News Corporation $NWSA

State of Wisconsin Investment Board raised its holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,365,364 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 275,480 shares during the period. News comprises about 0.4% of State of Wisconsin Investment Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. State of Wisconsin Investment Board owned about 1.33% of News worth $192,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of News in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new stake in shares of News in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of News in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of News by 154.5% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of News by 561.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research upgraded News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of News in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, News currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.14.

News Stock Performance

NWSA opened at $25.93 on Wednesday. News Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $31.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.70. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.47.

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

News Company 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.