State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 18,558 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 14.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 113,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,558 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in News were worth $3,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Value Investors Ltd bought a new stake in shares of News during the 4th quarter valued at $122,391,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in News by 291.2% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,941,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,088,000 after buying an additional 3,678,215 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in News during the first quarter valued at about $85,213,000. 59 North Capital Management LP grew its holdings in News by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 8,962,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,817,000 after buying an additional 2,569,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ion Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in News in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,102,000. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on NWSA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and set a $32.70 price target on shares of News in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of News from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, News currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.62.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $29.61 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.84. News Corporation has a one year low of $23.38 and a one year high of $30.75. The firm has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 1.23.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19. News had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 5.66%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a half year 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 70.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. News’s payout ratio is 9.62%.

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.