SpiderRock Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 13,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NWSA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of News during the fourth quarter worth about $139,956,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of News during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,928,000. Contour Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of News by 97.8% during the fourth quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 3,442,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,517,000 after buying an additional 1,702,483 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of News by 249.7% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,206,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,182,000 after buying an additional 1,575,803 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in News by 321.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,155,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,171,000 after acquiring an additional 880,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Price Performance

Shares of NWSA stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.56. 566,344 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,731,244. News Co. has a 12 month low of $18.98 and a 12 month high of $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $15.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.83 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $26.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.56.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11. The firm had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. News had a return on equity of 4.28% and a net margin of 2.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.67 earnings per share for the current year.

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