Axa S.A. Takes $869,000 Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Axa S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 31,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $869,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NWSA. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in News by 59.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 72,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 26,911 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of News by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 330,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,231,000 after buying an additional 47,650 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in News by 74.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 14,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 6,379 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in News in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $729,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in News by 5.2% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 72,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,994,000 after acquiring an additional 3,605 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NWSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of News from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of News from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $38.00.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $26.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.43. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.25 and a fifty-two week high of $28.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.49. The firm has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a PE ratio of 73.36 and a beta of 1.34.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. News had a return on equity of 4.51% and a net margin of 2.64%. The business had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

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

News Company 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.