Persistent Asset Partners Ltd Takes Position in News Corporation $NWS

Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 27,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $951,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NWS. Ossiam grew its position in shares of News by 165.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ossiam now owns 79,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,711,000 after acquiring an additional 49,306 shares in the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in News by 11.9% in the third quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 766,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,469,000 after purchasing an additional 81,387 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in News by 47.3% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 29,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 9,381 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of News during the second quarter worth $292,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in shares of News in the 3rd quarter worth about $19,456,000. 14.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, News presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWS stock opened at $26.19 on Friday. News Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.49 and a 12-month high of $35.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.75.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.15. News had a return on equity of 5.94% and a net margin of 13.35%.The company had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that News Corporation will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 73.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. News’s payout ratio is 9.85%.

News Company Profile

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS) is a global media and information services company engaged in news and digital real estate, book publishing and other media businesses. The company’s operations include print and digital newsbrands, business and financial information services, consumer platforms for property listings, and a major book publishing arm. Through its subsidiaries and brands, News Corp produces news content, market and financial reporting, online real-estate marketplaces and trade and consumer publishing products.

Key areas of activity include news and information, where the company publishes national and regional newspapers and operates business information services; book publishing through a well-known global publisher; and property-related digital businesses that operate online marketplaces for real estate listings.