ING Groep NV Sells 200,372 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

ING Groep NV reduced its position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 96.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,396 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200,372 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in News were worth $219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in News in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in News in the 4th quarter valued at about $344,000. Havemeyer Place LP bought a new stake in News in the 4th quarter valued at about $94,000. Deltroit Asset Management UK LLP bought a new stake in News in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,134,000. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in News by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 57,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Stock Down 0.8%

NWSA stock opened at $26.97 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.76 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 0.88. News Corporation has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $31.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.45.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of News in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings raised News from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research raised News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup reduced 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.14.

About News

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.