Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,540,000 shares, a growth of 10.0% from the November 30th total of 23,210,000 shares. Currently, 11.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,440,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FOXA shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of FOX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of FOX from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of FOX from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on FOX from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of FOX from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FOX currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.87.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Keith Rupert Murdoch sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.05, for a total transaction of $4,205,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,258,862 shares in the company, valued at $52,935,147.10. This represents a 7.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $7,979,894.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 249,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,907,311.52. This represents a 42.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 469,352 shares of company stock valued at $20,822,072. 21.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FOX

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FOXA. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in FOX in the third quarter worth $51,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in FOX in the 3rd quarter worth about $70,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of FOX during the third quarter valued at $119,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in FOX during the 3rd quarter valued at about $141,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of FOX by 74.5% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 4,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784 shares during the period. 52.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FOX Price Performance

FOXA stock opened at $48.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.31 billion, a PE ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.31. FOX has a one year low of $28.28 and a one year high of $50.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a current ratio of 2.59.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FOX will post 3.94 EPS 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.