Gabelli Funds LLC Trims Stake in Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA)

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its position in shares of Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 318,333 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,000 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned about 0.07% of FOX worth $10,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of FOX by 176.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in FOX by 254.4% during the first 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 last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in FOX during the second quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in FOX in the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in FOX in the first quarter worth $66,000. 52.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on FOX from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Macquarie boosted their price target on FOX from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of FOX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of FOX from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of FOX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.23.

Insider Activity at FOX

In other news, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch acquired 119,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was acquired 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 approximately $42,044,457.42. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other FOX news, COO John Nallen sold 52,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.96, for a total transaction 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 $9,717,559.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch bought 119,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,076,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,044,457.42. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 21.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

FOX Price Performance

Shares of FOXA opened at $41.11 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $39.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.90. The company has a market capitalization of $19.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.76. Fox Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.28 and a fifty-two week high of $41.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a current ratio of 2.54.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.07. FOX had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 10.74%. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. FOX’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Fox Co. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year.

FOX Increases Dividend

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

FOX 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.