UBS Group AG Increases Stock Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA – Get Rating) by 2,517.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 721,290 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 693,734 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in News were worth $13,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of News by 36.2% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of News by 8,144.6% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 4,561 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in News by 70.7% during the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 2,029 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of News in the first quarter worth $98,000. Finally, DC Investments Management LLC acquired a new position in News in the first quarter worth about $114,000. 63.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on News in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Loop Capital upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th.

Insider Activity

In other News news, General Counsel David B. Pitofsky sold 23,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total transaction of $409,212.50. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 63,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,101,961.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 13.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $18.58 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.65 billion, a PE ratio of 39.53 and a beta of 1.31. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.87 and a fifty-two week high of $21.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 11th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.03. News had a return on equity of 4.71% and a net margin of 2.64%. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Company Profile

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News Corp. is a media and information services company, which engages in the creation and distribution of content and other services. It operates through the following segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other. The Digital Real Estate Services segment refers to the firm’s interest in the REA Group, a company with operations focused on property and property-related advertising and services, as well as financial services.