News (NASDAQ:NWS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 1,178,828 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the previous session’s volume of 1,486,396 shares.The stock last traded at $33.0490 and had previously closed at $32.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NWS. Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Zacks Research downgraded News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

News Stock Up 0.7%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. News had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 6.35%. On average, analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 60.0%. News’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in News by 25.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 64,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,962,000 after buying an additional 13,253 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of News by 44.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,000 after buying an additional 8,241 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of News by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of News by 1.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 307,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,341,000 after purchasing an additional 5,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in News during the 1st quarter worth $287,000. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Company Profile

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS) is a global media and information services company engaged in news and digital real estate, book publishing and other media businesses. The company’s operations include print and digital newsbrands, business and financial information services, consumer platforms for property listings, and a major book publishing arm. Through its subsidiaries and brands, News Corp produces news content, market and financial reporting, online real-estate marketplaces and trade and consumer publishing products.

Key areas of activity include news and information, where the company publishes national and regional newspapers and operates business information services; book publishing through a well-known global publisher; and property-related digital businesses that operate online marketplaces for real estate listings.