Prudential Financial Inc. Trims Position in Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA)

Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its position in Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 159,430 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,977 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in FOX were worth $7,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of FOX in the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in FOX by 98.3% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 16,950 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FOX by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 31,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of FOX by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 554,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,452,000 after acquiring an additional 45,531 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of FOX by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 822,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,801,000 after purchasing an additional 152,508 shares in the last quarter. 52.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Adam G. Ciongoli sold 1,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.13, for a total transaction of $69,178.14. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,618,324.61. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Keith Rupert Murdoch sold 58,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.17, for a total value of $3,083,860.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,200,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,849,832.54. This represents a 4.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 21.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on FOX from $49.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price objective on FOX and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of FOX from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of FOX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of FOX from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.13.

FOX Price Performance

FOX stock opened at $54.73 on Friday. Fox Co. has a 52-week low of $30.02 and a 52-week high of $58.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $53.69 and its 200 day moving average is $48.03. The company has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.67.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.34. FOX had a net margin of 14.39% and a return on equity of 18.50%. The firm had revenue of $5.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fox Co. will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FOX Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a yield of 1%. FOX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.56%.

FOX Profile

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.