Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Has $1.10 Million Stock Holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. reduced its holdings in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 32.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,896 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,000 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in News were worth $1,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in News by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC boosted its position in shares of News by 9.5% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 6,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in News by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in News by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $816,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS increased its stake in News by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 131,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,231,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Price Performance

NASDAQ NWSA traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $23.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,591,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,715,676. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. News Co. has a 1 year low of $16.35 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $25.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.98. The company has a market capitalization of $13.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.83 and a beta of 1.35.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.06. News had a net margin of 2.29% and a return on equity of 4.14%. The business had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWSA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Macquarie raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of News from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $29.50.

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 in six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.