News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) Stake Boosted by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,195 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in News were worth $97,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in News by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,069,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,254,000 after purchasing an additional 295,631 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in News by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 845,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,721,000 after acquiring an additional 125,852 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in News by 101.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 496,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,889,000 after acquiring an additional 249,659 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in News by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 250,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,004,000 after acquiring an additional 26,044 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in News by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 203,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,197,000 after acquiring an additional 7,238 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

News Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ NWS opened at $30.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.46 billion, a PE ratio of 42.15 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. News Co. has a one year low of $23.99 and a one year high of $35.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $32.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.51.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. As a group, analysts predict that News Co. will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. News’s dividend payout ratio is 27.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

News Profile

News Corporation, a media and information services company, creates and distributes authoritative and engaging content, and other products and services for consumers and businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.