News Corporation $NWS Shares Sold by Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS) by 54.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,843 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,158 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in News were worth $1,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NWS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of News by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,819,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,700,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657,727 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in News by 0.4% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,960,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,733,000 after acquiring an additional 7,675 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of News by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 846,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,036,000 after purchasing an additional 21,638 shares in the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd grew its stake in News by 11.9% during the third quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 766,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,469,000 after buying an additional 81,387 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in News by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 661,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,852,000 after purchasing an additional 81,986 shares in the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of News stock opened at $27.22 on Wednesday. News Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.49 and a 12-month high of $35.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $28.48 and its 200-day moving average is $30.04.

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

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 73.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of News from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

About News

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.