Bank of America Corp DE Acquires 1,819,652 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 80.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,069,041 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,819,652 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.74% of News worth $101,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in News during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in News during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in News during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of News by 154.5% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of News by 561.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWSA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Citigroup cut their target price on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of News in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, News currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.50.

News Stock Down 3.9%

NASDAQ NWSA opened at $28.52 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.70. News Corporation has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $31.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.62. The company has a market capitalization of $15.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69 and a beta of 0.88.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.14. News had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. News’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that News Corporation will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 68.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.95%.

News 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.