Amundi Sells 295,835 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS)

Amundi reduced its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 59.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 205,768 shares of the company’s stock after selling 295,835 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in News were worth $6,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in News by 123.7% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of News by 136.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of News by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in News in the third quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in News by 72.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

News Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NWS opened at $30.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.44 and a beta of 1.37. News Co. has a 52 week low of $23.99 and a 52 week high of $35.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.94 and a 200-day moving average of $30.44.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.40%.

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 through six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.