Harspring Capital Management LLC Sells 121,500 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Harspring Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 20.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 480,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 121,500 shares during the quarter. News comprises 6.3% of Harspring Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Harspring Capital Management LLC’s holdings in News were worth $11,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of News by 774.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 257,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,416,000 after purchasing an additional 227,922 shares in the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in shares of News during the 1st quarter worth about $256,000. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS bought a new position in News during the 1st quarter valued at about $239,000. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC bought a new position in News during the 1st quarter valued at about $266,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in News by 2.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,245,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,842,000 after buying an additional 94,368 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

News Trading Down 0.7%

NWSA stock opened at $27.34 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $14.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.89. News Corporation has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $31.61. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $26.44 and a 200-day moving average of $25.56.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on NWSA shares. Zacks Research raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup reduced their target price on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings raised News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of News in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $37.14.

News 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.