Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOX) Short Interest Down 16.5% in August

Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOX) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,840,000 shares, a drop of 16.5% from the August 15th total of 3,400,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 907,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

FOX Stock Performance

FOX stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.56. 760,883 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,118,605. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $36.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.00. FOX has a one year low of $25.82 and a one year high of $38.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 2.33.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. FOX had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 10.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that FOX will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

FOX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from FOX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. FOX’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of FOX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at FOX

In other news, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch acquired 119,705 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO John Nallen sold 52,874 shares of FOX stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 249,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,717,559.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch bought 119,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $39.06 per share, with a total value of $4,675,677.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,076,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,044,457.42. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 19.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Asset Management Holding S.A. raised its stake in FOX by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Asset Management Holding S.A. now owns 463,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,806,000 after acquiring an additional 162,768 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in FOX by 232.5% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 36,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after buying an additional 25,304 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of FOX during the first quarter worth $1,711,000. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of FOX by 117.8% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 145,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,666,000 after buying an additional 78,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in shares of FOX in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,690,000. 26.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.