News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Shares Purchased by Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,103 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in News were worth $333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of News by 2,392.9% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of News in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of News in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of News in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of News by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NWSA. Seaport Res Ptn raised News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Guggenheim increased their price target on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.80.

News Stock Performance

Shares of News stock opened at $28.32 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.77 and a 200 day moving average of $27.87. News Co. has a 12 month low of $23.38 and a 12 month high of $30.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.80 and a beta of 1.30. 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) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.