Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA) Short Interest Up 10.0% in December

Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,540,000 shares, a growth of 10.0% from the November 30th total of 23,210,000 shares. Approximately 11.7% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,440,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FOXA shares. Barclays upped their price target on FOX from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of FOX from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of FOX from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Cfra restated a "sell" rating on shares of FOX in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on FOX from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.87.

FOX Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FOXA traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.58. The stock had a trading volume of 1,490,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,135,528. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $22.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.42. FOX has a 12-month low of $28.28 and a 12-month high of $50.63.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.38 billion. FOX had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 16.49%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that FOX will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other FOX news, COO John Nallen sold 182,481 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total value of $7,979,894.13. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 249,424 shares in the company, valued at $10,907,311.52. This trade represents a 42.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Keith Rupert Murdoch sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.05, for a total value of $4,205,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,258,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,935,147.10. This represents a 7.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 469,352 shares of company stock worth $20,822,072. 21.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FOX

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FOXA. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in FOX by 1.7% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 289,873 shares of the company's stock worth $9,963,000 after acquiring an additional 4,963 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of FOX by 68.7% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,340 shares of the company's stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,174 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in FOX by 3.3% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 29,050 shares of the company's stock worth $998,000 after buying an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in FOX by 42.0% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,346 shares of the company's stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 3,357 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in FOX by 8.8% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 300,699 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,335,000 after buying an additional 24,247 shares in the last quarter. 52.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FOX Company Profile

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.