Moffett Nathanson Downgrades FOX (NASDAQ:FOX) to Hold

FOX (NASDAQ:FOX) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Moffett Nathanson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Barclays upgraded shares of FOX to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

FOX Stock Performance

FOX stock opened at $45.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.16. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. FOX has a twelve month low of $25.82 and a twelve month high of $47.80. The company has a market capitalization of $20.91 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.81.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. FOX had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 13.40%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that FOX will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FOX news, Chairman Keith Rupert Murdoch sold 771,024 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.07, for a total transaction of $35,521,075.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO John Nallen sold 182,481 shares of FOX stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.73, for a total transaction of $7,979,894.13. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 249,424 shares in the company, valued at $10,907,311.52. The trade was a 42.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,053,505 shares of company stock valued at $47,705,970 over the last ninety days. 23.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in FOX by 15.2% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,716,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,582,000 after purchasing an additional 226,867 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in shares of FOX in the 3rd quarter worth about $768,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of FOX by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 540,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,982,000 after acquiring an additional 18,802 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in FOX during the third quarter worth about $2,561,000. Finally, Regal Partners Ltd grew its holdings in FOX by 30.3% in the third quarter. Regal Partners Ltd now owns 667,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,882,000 after purchasing an additional 154,924 shares during the period. 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 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.