iSAM Funds UK Ltd Reduces Stake in News Corporation $NWSA

iSAM Funds UK Ltd cut its stake in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 46.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,289 shares during the quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd’s holdings in News were worth $549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its position in News by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 11,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in News by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in News by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 11,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of News by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of News by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 151,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,947,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NWSA stock opened at $30.65 on Thursday. News Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $31.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.76 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.62.

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

News Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors 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 (DPR) is 19.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on NWSA shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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 cut News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of News in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, News presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.50.

News 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.