Trust Investment Advisors Trims Stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Trust Investment Advisors reduced its holdings in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,387 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,855 shares during the period. Trust Investment Advisors’ holdings in News were worth $206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of News by 104.8% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in News in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in News in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in News by 50.5% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 776 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in News by 65.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ NWSA traded down $0.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $24.03. 1,358,194 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,797,916. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $13.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.38 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.70. News Co. has a 12-month low of $16.35 and a 12-month high of $28.00.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that News Co. will post 0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors 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 presently 50.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of News from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Macquarie raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, News has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.