News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) Shares Purchased by Independent Franchise Partners LLP

Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,649,717 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 627,774 shares during the period. News accounts for approximately 2.2% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Independent Franchise Partners LLP owned approximately 1.70% of News worth $293,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NWS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in News by 123.7% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of News by 136.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of News in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of News by 2,892.8% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in News by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:NWS opened at $30.24 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.43 and a beta of 1.26. News Co. has a 1-year low of $23.99 and a 1-year high of $35.25.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. Sell-side analysts forecast that News Co. will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. News’s payout ratio is 27.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn raised News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

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.