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

Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 23,820,000 shares, a decrease of 6.7% from the December 15th total of 25,540,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.1 days. Currently, 10.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

FOX Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FOXA traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $48.00. The company had a trading volume of 3,970,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,980,282. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.75. The stock has a market cap of $21.92 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. FOX has a 1-year low of $28.28 and a 1-year high of $50.63.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.33. FOX had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 13.40%. The firm had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. FOX’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FOX will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FOXA has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on FOX from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on FOX from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on FOX from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of FOX in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of FOX from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FOX

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FOXA. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in FOX by 42.0% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in FOX by 580.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 6,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 5,319 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in FOX by 11.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 323,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,134,000 after buying an additional 32,684 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in FOX by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,180,000 after acquiring an additional 268,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in FOX by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 72,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 4,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.