Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 632,721 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,952,317 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 632,721 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.09% of News worth $1,403,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of News by 124.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,832,000 after buying an additional 8,144,856 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in News by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 180,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,801,000 after acquiring an additional 37,702 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in News by 381.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 192,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,138,000 after purchasing an additional 152,864 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in News by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,458,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,850,000 after purchasing an additional 338,958 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of News by 108.0% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 215,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,743,000 after purchasing an additional 111,987 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $26.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.15 and a 200 day moving average of $27.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65. News Co. has a 1-year low of $22.65 and a 1-year high of $30.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.25.

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