Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in News Corporation $NWS

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,728,263 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 124,871 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 0.66% of News worth $110,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in News during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of News by 97.0% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of News by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of News in the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of News by 616.8% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640 shares in the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NWS. Zacks Research lowered shares of News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of News from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

News Trading Up 1.3%

News stock opened at $31.19 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52 and a beta of 0.87. News Corporation has a 52 week low of $25.49 and a 52 week high of $35.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.70.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.12 billion. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. Research analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 0.96 EPS for the current year.

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.