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

Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOX) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,840,000 shares, a decrease of 16.5% from the August 15th total of 3,400,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 907,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

FOX Stock Up 1.0 %

FOX stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $37.81. 328,158 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,116,201. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.65 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 company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. FOX has a 52-week low of $25.82 and a 52-week high of $38.51. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.00.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. FOX had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 15.57%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that FOX will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. This is a boost from FOX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. FOX’s payout ratio is currently 16.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FOX news, COO John Nallen sold 52,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other FOX news, COO John Nallen sold 52,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch purchased 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, with a total value 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 19.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FOX

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Asset Management Holding S.A. grew its stake in FOX by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Asset Management Holding S.A. now owns 463,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,806,000 after buying an additional 162,768 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in FOX by 232.5% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 36,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,001,000 after buying an additional 25,304 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in FOX in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,711,000. Swedbank AB grew its stake in FOX by 117.8% in the 2nd 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 purchased a new position in FOX in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,690,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.41% of the company’s stock.

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.