BOX (NYSE:BOX) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $38.00 to $37.00. The stock had previously closed at $33.47, but opened at $31.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. BOX shares last traded at $31.92, with a volume of 1,035,617 shares traded.

Several other research analysts have also commented on BOX. StockNews.com lowered BOX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of BOX in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BOX in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of BOX in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on BOX from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Olivia Nottebohm sold 6,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.42, for a total transaction of $209,239.18. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 440,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,178,806.96. This trade represents a 1.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Aaron Levie sold 10,000 shares of BOX stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total value of $325,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,999,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,592,503.70. This represents a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 89,041 shares of company stock valued at $2,889,758. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BOX

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BOX. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of BOX in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in BOX by 715.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 1,897 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in shares of BOX by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,194 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BOX by 245.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of BOX during the 4th quarter worth about $132,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.74% of the company’s stock.

BOX Trading Down 3.1 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.54, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.88.

BOX announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 4th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About BOX

Box, Inc engages in the provision of an enterprise content platform that enables organizations to securely manage enterprise content while allowing easy, secure access and sharing of this content from anywhere, on any device. Its products include cloud content management, IT and admin controls, Box Governance, Box Zones, Box Relay, Box Shuttle, and Box KeySafe.