Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases New Shares in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 8,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in News by 2,392.9% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new position in News during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in News during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in News by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in News by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

News Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $27.67 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $27.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.78. The company has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a PE ratio of 37.90 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65. News Co. has a 1-year low of $23.38 and a 1-year high of $30.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWSA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered News from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, News currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.20.

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