Mariner LLC Grows Position in Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOX)

Mariner LLC increased its holdings in Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOX - Free Report) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,372 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,997 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC's holdings in FOX were worth $2,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FOX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of FOX during the fourth quarter valued at about $138,822,000. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in shares of FOX during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,766,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of FOX by 58.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,970,917 shares of the company's stock worth $135,890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,073 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in FOX in the fourth quarter valued at $48,606,000. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of FOX by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 5,706,386 shares of the company's stock worth $261,010,000 after acquiring an additional 759,874 shares in the last quarter. 26.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

FOX Price Performance

Shares of FOX stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $45.79. The company had a trading volume of 789,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,249,649. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a current ratio of 2.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $49.05 and a 200-day moving average of $46.22. The company has a market capitalization of $20.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.81, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.58. Fox Co. has a 12-month low of $28.51 and a 12-month high of $55.00.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fox Co. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

FOX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued 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 dividend yield of 2.36%. FOX's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.56%.

Insider Activity

In other FOX news, insider Adam G. Ciongoli sold 1,278 shares of FOX stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.13, for a total value of $69,178.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,897 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,618,324.61. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 directly owns 1,200,862 shares in the company, valued at $63,849,832.54. This represents a 4.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 23.06% 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.