Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 715,050 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 687.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 819,083 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 715,050 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in News were worth $21,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Permanent Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of News during the third quarter worth approximately $812,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of News by 39.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,875,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,830,000 after acquiring an additional 4,214,562 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in News by 22.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,770,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,389,000 after acquiring an additional 330,513 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in News by 197.2% during the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 83,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 55,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GenTrust LLC acquired a new position in News during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,549,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of News stock opened at $24.26 on Friday. News Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $31.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $24.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.09.

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

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a yield of 83.0%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on NWSA shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of News from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $32.40 target price on News in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup lowered their price target on News from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut News from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.02.

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.