Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 88,157 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,458,034 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 88,157 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.86% of News worth $272,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NWSA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in News by 5.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in News during the first quarter worth about $206,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in News during the first quarter worth about $204,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in News by 44.4% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 16,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 5,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in News during the second quarter worth about $545,000. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Price Performance

News stock opened at $26.80 on Tuesday. News Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $31.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $25.63 and its 200-day moving average is $25.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $14.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.88.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.05. News had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that News Corporation will post 0.92 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWSA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of News in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup dropped their target price on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.14.

News Company Profile

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.