Natixis Increases Stock Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Natixis boosted its position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 76.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 229,121 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 99,535 shares during the period. Natixis' holdings in News were worth $6,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWSA. Barclays PLC increased its stake in News by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,832,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,856 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of News by 30.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,458,869 shares of the company's stock worth $38,850,000 after acquiring an additional 338,958 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in News in the 4th quarter valued at about $374,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in News by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 435,388 shares of the company's stock worth $11,594,000 after purchasing an additional 12,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of News by 374.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,160,045 shares of the company's stock worth $59,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,704,944 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company's stock.

News Price Performance

Shares of NWSA traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.13. 1,889,082 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,816,097. News Co. has a one year low of $22.65 and a one year high of $30.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market cap of $15.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.16 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.98 and a 200-day moving average of $27.70.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on NWSA. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upgraded News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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 report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.80.

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.