CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Buys 121,364 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 661,750 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 121,364 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.12% of News worth $18,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in News by 2,392.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in News in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of News in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of News by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in News in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NWSA shares. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $38.80.

News Trading Up 1.1 %

News stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.13. 1,827,386 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,352,469. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.16 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $26.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.70. News Co. has a 12 month low of $22.65 and a 12 month high of $30.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. Analysts forecast that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. News's payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

News 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.