Comerica Bank Cuts Stock Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Comerica Bank lowered its position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 46,118 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,729 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in News were worth $1,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of News by 124.0% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in News during the 4th quarter worth approximately $374,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position 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 during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in News by 374.6% during the 4th 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. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in News by 204.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 344,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,447,000 after purchasing an additional 231,056 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $28.06 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. News Co. has a 12 month low of $23.38 and a 12 month high of $30.69. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.83. The stock has a market cap of $15.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.44 and a beta of 1.30.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of News from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.