Greenleaf Trust Makes New $243,000 Investment in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Greenleaf Trust bought a new position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in News by 104.8% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in News by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 59,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 19,282 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in News during the 3rd quarter worth $233,000. Oak Thistle LLC raised its position in News by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 55,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 2,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in News by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 66,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,336,000 after purchasing an additional 21,484 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Price Performance

NWSA stock opened at $24.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $14.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.40 and a beta of 1.33. 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 12-month low of $16.35 and a 12-month high of $28.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.86.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. News’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

About News

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.