FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Fox Corporation (NASDAQ:FOXA)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Bank of America downgraded the stock from a buy rating to an underperform rating. The stock had previously closed at $55.98, but opened at $53.70. Bank of America now has a $45.00 price target on the stock. FOX shares last traded at $54.0690, with a volume of 1,590,656 shares traded.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Argus raised FOX to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Zacks Research cut shares of FOX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of FOX from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Arete Research raised shares of FOX from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $97.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group set a $64.00 price objective on shares of FOX in a research report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.80.

Insider Activity at FOX

In related news, insider Adam G. Ciongoli sold 29,897 shares of FOX stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.55, for a total value of $2,079,336.35. Following the transaction, the insider owned 35,978 shares in the company, valued at $2,502,269.90. This trade represents a 45.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 19.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FOX

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in FOX during the 4th quarter valued at about $266,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its position in FOX by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 107,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,836,000 after purchasing an additional 33,997 shares during the last quarter. Auxier Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FOX during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $222,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of FOX by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 417,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,536,000 after purchasing an additional 43,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of FOX by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.52% of the company’s stock.

FOX Trading Down 3.3%

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $68.66 and its 200 day moving average is $64.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.44. The company has a market capitalization of $23.02 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01, a P/E/G ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 0.51.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $5.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. FOX had a net margin of 11.41% and a return on equity of 18.14%. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fox Corporation will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

FOX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a yield of 83.0%. FOX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.46%.

About FOX

Fox Corporation (NASDAQ: FOXA) is a U.S.-based media company focused on television broadcasting, cable news and sports programming, and digital distribution. The company was formed in 2019 as the successor to certain assets of 21st Century Fox after a transaction that transferred many film and television studio assets to The Walt Disney Company. Fox Corp’s operations center on the Fox Broadcasting network, a portfolio of local television stations, national news and business cable networks, and sports media properties.

Fox produces, acquires and distributes a range of live and recorded programming, including news, opinion and commentary, national and local sports telecasts, and general entertainment.