Independent Franchise Partners LLP Has $264 Million Stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS)

Independent Franchise Partners LLP reduced its stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 17.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,299,164 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,973,408 shares during the quarter. News accounts for 2.4% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Independent Franchise Partners LLP’s holdings in News were worth $264,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NWS. Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of News during the 1st quarter worth about $636,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of News by 183.8% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $936,000 after buying an additional 22,394 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of News by 156.1% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 156,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,236,000 after buying an additional 95,429 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of News by 172.2% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 118,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,364,000 after acquiring an additional 74,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in News by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 103,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,649,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

News Stock Performance

News stock opened at $27.68 on Friday. News Co. has a 12-month low of $20.01 and a 12-month high of $29.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.89 and a beta of 1.37.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. News had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 4.51%. The company had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. News’s payout ratio is 55.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Loop Capital upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th.

News Profile

News Corporation, a media and information services company, creates and distributes authoritative and engaging content, and other products and services for consumers and businesses worldwide. It operates in six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.