Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOX) Short Interest Update

Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOX) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,610,000 shares, a decline of 8.6% from the September 15th total of 3,950,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 896,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Insider Activity at FOX

In related news, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch purchased 119,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $39.06 per share, with a total value of $4,675,677.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,076,407 shares in the company, valued at $42,044,457.42. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other FOX news, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch acquired 119,705 shares of FOX stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $39.06 per share, with a total value of $4,675,677.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,076,407 shares in the company, valued at $42,044,457.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO John Nallen sold 52,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.96, for a total value of $2,059,971.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 249,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,717,559.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of FOX

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in FOX by 692.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in FOX during the second quarter worth approximately $51,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in FOX by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in FOX in the 1st quarter valued at $97,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of FOX by 267.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569 shares during the period. 26.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upgraded FOX to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of FOX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th.

FOX Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:FOX traded up $0.32 on Thursday, hitting $39.07. 1,519,280 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,100,659. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.60. FOX has a 52 week low of $25.82 and a 52 week high of $39.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 2.33. The company has a market cap of $18.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.81.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. FOX had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 15.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that FOX will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FOX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 4th. This is a boost from FOX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. FOX’s payout ratio is currently 16.93%.

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.