FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) Lowered to Hold at Seaport Res Ptn

Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of FOX from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of FOX from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on FOX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Macquarie raised their target price on FOX from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on FOX from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $38.23.

FOX Price Performance

Shares of FOX stock opened at $38.91 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $18.16 billion, a PE ratio of 12.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. FOX has a 12-month low of $28.28 and a 12-month high of $41.58.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. FOX had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 10.74%. FOX’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that FOX will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

FOX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from FOX’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.26. This represents a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. FOX’s payout ratio is presently 16.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FOX

In other news, COO John Nallen sold 52,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.96, for a total value of $2,059,971.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 249,424 shares in the company, valued at $9,717,559.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch acquired 119,705 shares of FOX stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.06 per share, for a total transaction of $4,675,677.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,076,407 shares in the company, valued at $42,044,457.42. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO John Nallen sold 52,874 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 249,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,717,559.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 21.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FOX

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in FOX by 176.6% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of FOX by 254.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of FOX by 38.4% in the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in FOX in the 2nd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in FOX during the second quarter valued at $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.52% of the company’s stock.

FOX Company Profile

Fox Corporation operates as a news, sports, and entertainment company in the United States (U.S.). The company operates through Cable Network Programming; Television; and Other, Corporate and Eliminations segments. The Cable Network Programming segment produces and licenses news, business 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.