ING Groep NV Boosts Stock Holdings in News Corporation $NWSA

ING Groep NV grew its holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 640.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 208,768 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 180,572 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in News were worth $6,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new stake in News during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of News in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of News during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in News by 87.9% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in News by 160.1% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NWSA shares. Guggenheim decreased their price target on News from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of News from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research cut shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $32.40 price target on shares of News in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of News from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, News currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.02.

News Price Performance

NWSA stock opened at $22.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.24. The stock has a market cap of $12.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 0.99. 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 0.20, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.07. News had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 5.94%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 83.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. News’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.85%.

About News

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.