Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 16,970,000 shares, a decrease of 20.9% from the February 13th total of 21,460,000 shares. Approximately 7.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

FOX Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FOXA traded up $0.19 on Friday, reaching $53.40. 16,675,374 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,144,513. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 2.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.67. The company's 50 day moving average is $52.95 and its 200-day moving average is $47.41. FOX has a fifty-two week low of $29.89 and a fifty-two week high of $58.74.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $5.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.78 billion. FOX had a return on equity of 18.50% and a net margin of 14.39%. FOX's revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that FOX will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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FOX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a dividend yield of 1%. FOX's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on FOX from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of FOX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on FOX from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on FOX from $50.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on FOX from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FOX has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.19.

Insider Activity at FOX

In related news, insider Adam G. Ciongoli sold 1,278 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.13, for a total transaction of $69,178.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,897 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,618,324.61. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Keith Rupert Murdoch sold 58,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.17, for a total transaction of $3,083,860.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,200,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,849,832.54. This trade represents a 4.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 21.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FOX

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in FOX by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,051 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of FOX during the third quarter valued at $620,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in FOX by 4.8% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 35,301 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,494,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the period. Seizert Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in FOX by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 349,304 shares of the company's stock worth $14,786,000 after acquiring an additional 24,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in FOX during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.52% of the company's stock.

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.