Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. Takes Position in News Corporation $NWSA

Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 18,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of News during the fourth quarter valued at $188,788,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in News by 488.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,124,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,742,836 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in News by 2,348.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,664,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,961,000 after buying an additional 5,433,332 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in News by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,356,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $965,673,000 after buying an additional 4,448,929 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in News by 46.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,706,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,662,000 after buying an additional 2,449,552 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Price Performance

Shares of NWSA opened at $28.43 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $26.38 and its 200-day moving average is $25.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.59. The company has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 0.89. News Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $31.61.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWSA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of News in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, News has a consensus rating of “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.