Whitebox Advisors LLC Sells 179,303 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Whitebox Advisors LLC decreased its stake in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 72.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,507 shares of the company’s stock after selling 179,303 shares during the quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC’s holdings in News were worth $1,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of News by 16.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,356,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $965,673,000 after acquiring an additional 4,448,929 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of News by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 29,934,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $781,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,691 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of News by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,458,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,169,000 after purchasing an additional 88,157 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of News by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,072,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,607,000 after purchasing an additional 947,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metropolis Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in News by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 8,835,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843,900 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $26.76 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $14.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.89. News Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $31.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.56.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of News in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings raised News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.