Quantinno Capital Management LP Boosts Stock Position in News Corporation $NWSA

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 174.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,911,329 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,214,648 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in News were worth $47,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB increased its stake in News by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 192,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,024,000 after purchasing an additional 83,821 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of News by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 823,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,580,000 after purchasing an additional 102,259 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of News by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 953,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,904,000 after purchasing an additional 42,795 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in News during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,944,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in News by 120.6% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,326,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,002,000 after buying an additional 1,272,083 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Trading Up 2.3%

NWSA opened at $28.82 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $15.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 0.89. News Corporation has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $31.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.70. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.60.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.05. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that News Corporation will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on NWSA shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup decreased their target price on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings raised News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of News in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, News currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $37.14.

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.