Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Position in Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOX) by 9.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 178,328 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,084 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in FOX were worth $5,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in FOX by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 45,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in FOX by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in FOX by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 89,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,475,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in FOX by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in FOX by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. 26.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FOX Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FOX opened at $37.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.81. Fox Co. has a 52 week low of $25.82 and a 52 week high of $38.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. FOX had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fox Co. will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FOX Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from FOX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. FOX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch purchased 119,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were bought 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 $42,044,457.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch purchased 119,705 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were bought 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 $42,044,457.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO John Nallen sold 52,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.96, for a total transaction of $2,059,971.04. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 249,424 shares in the company, valued at $9,717,559.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.