Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases Shares of 300,000 News Corporation $NWSA

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 300,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,213,000. News makes up 0.6% of Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. owned 0.05% of News as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in News by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 52,171,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,550,546,000 after buying an additional 407,293 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its position in News by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 29,170,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $866,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980,941 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of News by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,875,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,830,000 after buying an additional 4,214,562 shares during the period. 59 North Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of News by 13.5% in the second quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 12,650,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,984,000 after buying an additional 1,503,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in News by 2.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,154,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,578,000 after acquiring an additional 208,692 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Price Performance

NASDAQ NWSA traded up $0.43 on Friday, hitting $24.01. The company had a trading volume of 429,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,860,639. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $24.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.46. News Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $31.61. The company has a market capitalization of $13.33 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.07. News had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 5.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. News’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that News Corporation will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 83.0%. News’s payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NWSA. Morgan Stanley set a $32.40 target price on shares of News in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of News from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of News from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of News from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.02.

News Company Profile

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company’s news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world’s largest consumer publishers.