Xponance Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in News Corporation $NWSA

Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 35.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,383 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,678 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in News were worth $2,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in News by 0.9% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 42,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of News by 2.9% in the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 14,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of News by 0.6% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 74,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,200,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the period. Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC lifted its position in News by 4.3% during the third quarter. Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC now owns 11,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in News by 1.3% in the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 36,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $23.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. News Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $31.61.

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. Equities analysts predict that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWSA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on News from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research downgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of News from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of News from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.02.

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.