Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.00.

FOXA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of FOX in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of FOX from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of FOX to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America increased their price target on FOX from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on FOX from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Keith Rupert Murdoch sold 186,871 shares of FOX stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.22, for a total value of $8,637,177.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO John Nallen sold 182,481 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 469,352 shares of company stock worth $20,822,072. Corporate insiders own 21.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of FOX

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FOXA. Independent Franchise Partners LLP lifted its holdings in FOX by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 18,495,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $635,706,000 after purchasing an additional 597,450 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of FOX by 44,205.3% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,915,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,066,000 after acquiring an additional 7,897,710 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of FOX by 7.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,180,000 after acquiring an additional 268,778 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in FOX by 25.5% during the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 2,420,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,208,000 after acquiring an additional 492,467 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in FOX by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,579,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,280,000 after purchasing an additional 42,424 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.52% of the company’s stock.

FOX Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FOXA opened at $48.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.92 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.75. 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 12-month low of $28.28 and a 12-month high of $50.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.63.

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. FOX had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 13.40%. The business had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. FOX’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that FOX will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.