FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA) CEO Lachlan Murdoch Sells 242,747 Shares

Key Points

• FOX CEO Lachlan Murdoch sold 242,747 shares on March 11 at an average price of $57.74 for a total of about $14.02 million, reducing his ownership by 58.04% to 175,524 shares (worth ~$10.13 million).
• FOX beat quarterly expectations: reported EPS of $0.82 vs. $0.47 consensus and revenue of $5.18 billion, and the company declared a $0.28 dividend payable March 25 (record date March 4).
• Shares traded near $57.39, below the 50- and 200-day moving averages, while analysts’ consensus rating is a "Hold" with an average price target of $71.80.

Fox Corporation (NASDAQ:FOXA - Get Free Report) CEO Lachlan Murdoch sold 242,747 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.74, for a total value of $14,016,211.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 175,524 shares in the company, valued at $10,134,755.76. This represents a 58.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

FOX Stock Performance

FOX stock traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $57.39. The stock had a trading volume of 9,569,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,978,365. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.44, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Fox Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $46.42 and a fifty-two week high of $76.39. The company has a market cap of $24.41 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.54 and a beta of 0.55.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $5.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.02 billion. FOX had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 11.41%.FOX's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fox Corporation will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FOX Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on FOXA. Zacks Research downgraded shares of FOX from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group set a $64.00 price objective on FOX in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Bank of America lowered FOX from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of FOX from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of FOX from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Seven equities research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FOX

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of FOX by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 712 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in FOX by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,532 shares of the company's stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in FOX by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of FOX by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FOX by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,916 shares of the company's stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. 52.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FOX Company Profile

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.

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