HighTower Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS)

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,684 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,345 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in News were worth $660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in shares of News by 123.7% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in News by 136.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in News by 22.9% in 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 during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in News in the 3rd quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of News by 72.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

News Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NWS opened at $29.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.63 and a beta of 1.37. News Co. has a 1-year low of $23.99 and a 1-year high of $35.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.01). News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. On average, research analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual 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. This represents a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

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.