Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Takes Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 1,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in News in the third quarter worth about $990,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of News by 124.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,832,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,856 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of News by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,337,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,512,000 after buying an additional 53,550 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of News by 26.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 180,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,801,000 after buying an additional 37,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of News by 381.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 192,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,138,000 after buying an additional 152,864 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upgraded shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.25.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $27.04 on Monday. News Co. has a 52 week low of $22.65 and a 52 week high of $30.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.04 and a beta of 1.34.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. On average, analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.40%.

News Company 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.