First Merchants Corp Sells 37,856 Shares of Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA)

First Merchants Corp lowered its stake in Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOXA - Free Report) by 70.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,538 shares of the company's stock after selling 37,856 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in FOX were worth $461,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FOXA. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in FOX by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 10,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FOX during the fourth quarter worth about $2,752,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FOX by 3.9% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 33,935 shares of the company's stock worth $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of FOX by 273.1% during the third quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 49,233 shares of the company's stock worth $1,536,000 after acquiring an additional 36,038 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of FOX by 66.6% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,581,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,935,000 after buying an additional 632,522 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.52% of the company's stock.

FOX Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ FOXA traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $31.21. The company had a trading volume of 3,669,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,477,239. The company has a market capitalization of $14.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.39. Fox Co. has a 12-month low of $28.28 and a 12-month high of $35.40.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOXA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.24. FOX had a net margin of 5.75% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The business had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. FOX's quarterly revenue was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fox Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

FOX Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. FOX's dividend payout ratio is 30.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of FOX from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on FOX from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of FOX from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. TheStreet cut shares of FOX from a "b-" rating to a "c" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised FOX from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FOX presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.40.

FOX Company Profile

Fox Corporation operates as a news, sports, and entertainment company in the United States (U.S.). The company operates through Cable Network Programming; Television; and Other, Corporate and Eliminations segments. The Cable Network Programming segment produces and licenses news, business 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.