Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA) Short Interest Down 6.7% in December

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of FOX to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of FOX from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of FOX from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on FOX from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on FOX from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FOX currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

FOX Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FOXA traded down $0.32 on Friday, reaching $48.00. 3,970,549 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,980,282. The business’s 50-day moving average is $47.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.69. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. FOX has a fifty-two week low of $28.28 and a fifty-two week high of $50.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Insider Activity at FOX

In other FOX news, COO John Nallen sold 182,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 249,424 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,258,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,935,147.10. The trade was a 7.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 469,352 shares of company stock worth $20,822,072. 21.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in FOX by 44,205.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,915,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,897,710 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FOX by 228.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,387,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,716,000 after buying an additional 964,737 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its holdings in shares of FOX by 294.2% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 888,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,537,000 after buying an additional 663,089 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of FOX by 3.3% during the second quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 18,495,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $635,706,000 after buying an additional 597,450 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in FOX by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,420,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,208,000 after buying an additional 492,467 shares in the last quarter. 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.