iA Global Asset Management Inc. Makes New $757,000 Investment in News Corporation $NWSA

iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 30,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $757,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in News by 5.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of News in the 1st quarter worth $206,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of News in the 1st quarter worth $204,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of News by 44.4% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 16,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 5,106 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in News during the second quarter valued at about $545,000. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Trading Up 3.3%

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $26.64 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 0.89. News Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $31.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NWSA. Citigroup lowered 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of News in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, News has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.14.

News 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.