FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $51.95, but opened at $55.43. FOX shares last traded at $54.06, with a volume of 980,373 shares traded.

The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 13.40%. FOX’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share.

FOX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. FOX’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FOXA. UBS Group boosted their price target on FOX from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of FOX from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on FOX from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Moffett Nathanson downgraded FOX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on FOX from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Keith Rupert Murdoch sold 186,871 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.22, for a total transaction of $8,637,177.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Adam G. Ciongoli sold 1,278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,897 shares in the company, valued at $1,618,324.61. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 21.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of FOX

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in FOX by 91.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of FOX during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of FOX by 142.5% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 793 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in FOX in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in FOX during the 3rd quarter valued at about $70,000. 52.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FOX Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a current ratio of 2.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $48.63 and a 200-day moving average of $43.95.

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.