New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 11,500 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 223,520 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in News were worth $6,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NWSA. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of News by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 11,399 shares of the company's stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of News by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,576 shares of the company's stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in News by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,334 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its position in News by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 60,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in News by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 42,743 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NWSA. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised News from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $39.25.

News Price Performance

News stock traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.62. The company had a trading volume of 5,396,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,898,121. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $28.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.80. The company has a market capitalization of $16.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.21 and a beta of 1.35. News Co. has a 1 year low of $22.65 and a 1 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.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 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, equities analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. News's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.