Independent Franchise Partners LLP Buys 597,450 Shares of Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA)

Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,495,954 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 597,450 shares during the quarter. FOX accounts for approximately 5.9% of Independent Franchise Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Independent Franchise Partners LLP owned 3.96% of FOX worth $635,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in FOX by 254.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 809 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in FOX in the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FOX in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of FOX during the 1st quarter worth about $66,000. 52.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of FOX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on FOX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised FOX from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $29.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered FOX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of FOX from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.23.

FOX Price Performance

FOXA opened at $40.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 2.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.77. Fox Co. has a one year low of $28.28 and a one year high of $41.58.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.09 billion for 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fox Co. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FOX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost 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 currently 16.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FOX

In other FOX news, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch purchased 119,705 shares of the 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 directly owns 1,076,407 shares in the company, valued at $42,044,457.42. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch acquired 119,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.06 per share, with a total value of $4,675,677.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,076,407 shares in the company, valued at $42,044,457.42. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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. Corporate insiders own 21.77% of the company’s stock.

About FOX

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.