Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA) by 39.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,032 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,913 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in FOX were worth $3,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of FOX by 10.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,125,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,649,000 after buying an additional 110,753 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in FOX during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $546,000. Invst LLC purchased a new position in shares of FOX in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $740,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of FOX in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,867,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of FOX by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 15,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $752,000 after purchasing an additional 3,787 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other FOX news, COO John Nallen sold 182,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 249,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,907,311.52. The trade was a 42.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Keith Rupert Murdoch sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chairman now owns 1,258,862 shares in the company, valued at $52,935,147.10. This trade represents a 7.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 469,352 shares of company stock worth $20,822,072 over the last three months. 21.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FOXA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of FOX to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of FOX from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on FOX from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on FOX from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on FOX from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FOX has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.25.

FOX Stock Performance

Shares of FOXA opened at $50.43 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $48.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.42. The stock has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.75. Fox Co. has a 12-month low of $28.28 and a 12-month high of $50.88. 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 (NASDAQ:FOXA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. FOX had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 13.40%. FOX’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Fox Co. will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FOX Profile

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.