SG Americas Securities LLC Cuts Stake in News Corporation $NWSA

SG Americas Securities LLC cut its holdings in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 57.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 261,616 shares of the company’s stock after selling 357,108 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in News were worth $6,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in News in the 4th quarter worth $188,788,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of News by 488.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,124,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,054,000 after buying an additional 6,742,836 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of News by 2,348.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,664,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,961,000 after buying an additional 5,433,332 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of News by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,356,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $965,673,000 after acquiring an additional 4,448,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in News by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,875,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,830,000 after acquiring an additional 4,214,562 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA opened at $25.41 on Monday. News Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $31.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $26.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64 and a beta of 0.88.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. News’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that News Corporation will post 0.92 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on NWSA. Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of News in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.14.

News Company Profile

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company’s news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world’s largest consumer publishers.