Alliancebernstein L.P. Cuts Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its holdings in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 113,493 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,243 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in News were worth $3,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of News by 136.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of News by 2,892.8% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 1,996 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in News by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ NWS opened at $30.43 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.76. 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 cap of $17.27 billion, a PE ratio of 41.69 and a beta of 1.26. News Co. has a 52 week low of $23.99 and a 52 week high of $35.25.

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

News Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report 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.