National Bank of Canada FI Sells 15,935 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

National Bank of Canada FI cut its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 177,190 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,935 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in News were worth $4,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NWSA. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of News by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of News by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of News by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in News by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 12,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in News by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 108,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,991,000 after buying an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWSA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective 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. Citigroup started coverage on shares of News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

News Stock Performance

Shares of News stock opened at $24.58 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.67 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. News Co. has a 52 week low of $22.65 and a 52 week high of $30.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. Sell-side analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. News’s payout ratio is presently 27.40%.

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.