Westpac Banking Corp Raises Stock Position in Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA)

Westpac Banking Corp grew its holdings in Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 105,120 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,270 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in FOX were worth $5,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FOXA. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in FOX by 98.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 34,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,448,000 after buying an additional 16,950 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in FOX by 9.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 554,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,452,000 after purchasing an additional 45,531 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in FOX by 18.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 66,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,831,000 after purchasing an additional 10,261 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its stake in FOX by 672.7% during the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 14,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in FOX by 228.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,387,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,716,000 after purchasing an additional 964,737 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.52% of the company’s stock.

FOX Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FOXA opened at $57.04 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $25.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.39. Fox Co. has a twelve month low of $30.02 and a twelve month high of $58.74.

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

FOX Announces Dividend

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. This represents a yield of 1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. FOX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FOX

In other FOX news, Chairman Keith Rupert Murdoch sold 58,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,849,832.54. The trade was a 4.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Adam G. Ciongoli sold 1,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.13, for a total transaction of $69,178.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,618,324.61. This trade represents a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 21.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FOXA. Citigroup lifted their price objective on FOX from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FOX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Moffett Nathanson downgraded shares of FOX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of FOX from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.56.

About FOX

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.