News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Price Target Cut to $37.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $38.00 to $37.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on NWSA. Seaport Res Ptn raised News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.80.

News Stock Up 2.3 %

NWSA stock opened at $26.19 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $14.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.88 and a beta of 1.24. News has a 52 week low of $22.65 and a 52 week high of $30.69.

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

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio is 27.40%.

Institutional Trading of News

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWSA. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of News by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in News by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of News by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of News by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of News by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 12,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.