Norges Bank Makes New Investment in News Corporation $NWSA

Norges Bank acquired a new position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,227,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $188,788,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.29% of News at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new position in News in the second quarter worth $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in News in the third quarter worth $31,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in News in the third quarter worth $35,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in News by 154.5% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in News by 561.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Trading Down 1.4%

News stock opened at $26.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.59. News Corporation has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $31.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $25.71 and its 200 day moving average is $25.39.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWSA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research upgraded News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of News in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, News currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.