Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Grows Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 27.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 65,649 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,089 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in News were worth $1,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in News by 123.7% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in News by 136.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in News by 2,892.8% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,996 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in News by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of News in the third quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Institutional investors own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

News Price Performance

NWS stock opened at $30.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.01 and a 200-day moving average of $30.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.12 and a beta of 1.37. News Co. has a 12 month low of $23.99 and a 12 month high of $35.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that News Co. will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

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