Brokerages Set News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Price Target at $39.25

News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.25.

Several research firms have weighed in on NWSA. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup started coverage on News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of News from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

News Price Performance

NASDAQ NWSA traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $27.15. The company had a trading volume of 2,930,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,512,375. The company has a market capitalization of $15.40 billion, a PE ratio of 37.19 and a beta of 1.34. News has a twelve month low of $22.65 and a twelve month high of $30.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.79.

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News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, analysts anticipate that News will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. News's payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Institutional Trading of News

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NWSA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in News by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,952,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,403,227,000 after purchasing an additional 632,721 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its position in shares of News by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 26,617,259 shares of the company's stock worth $733,039,000 after buying an additional 2,812,080 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in News by 6.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,799,596 shares of the company's stock worth $689,397,000 after buying an additional 1,476,224 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in News by 124.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,832,000 after buying an additional 8,144,856 shares during the period. Finally, Dodge & Cox boosted its position in News by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 11,662,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $321,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company's stock.

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.