Independent Franchise Partners LLP Raises Position in Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOX)

Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its stake in Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOX - Free Report) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,706,386 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 759,874 shares during the period. FOX comprises approximately 2.0% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Independent Franchise Partners LLP owned 1.25% of FOX worth $261,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in FOX in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of FOX by 135.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 907 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in FOX by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of FOX by 82.7% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,343 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of FOX by 84.0% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 742 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at FOX

In other news, Chairman Keith Rupert Murdoch sold 58,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.17, for a total value of $3,083,860.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,200,862 shares in the company, valued at $63,849,832.54. This represents a 4.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Adam G. Ciongoli sold 1,278 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.13, for a total value of $69,178.14. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,618,324.61. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 23.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Moffett Nathanson downgraded shares of FOX from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st.

FOX Stock Performance

Shares of FOX stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $44.57. The stock had a trading volume of 663,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,253,946. The stock's 50 day moving average is $49.89 and its 200 day moving average is $45.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.54, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.58. Fox Co. has a twelve month low of $27.99 and a twelve month high of $55.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 2.14.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.35. FOX had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 18.50%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fox Co. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FOX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. FOX's payout ratio is currently 11.56%.

About FOX

Fox Corporation operates as a news, sports, and entertainment company in the United States (U.S.). The company operates through four segments: Cable Network Programming, Television, Credible, and The FOX Studio Lot. The Cable Network Programming segment produces and licenses news and sports content for distribution through traditional cable television systems, direct broadcast satellite operators and telecommunication companies, virtual multi-channel video programming distributors, and other digital platforms primarily in the U.S.