Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $8.41 Million in Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 265,976 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $8,405,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in BOX by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 7,807 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BOX by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 35,775 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC increased its holdings in BOX by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in BOX by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 17,340 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in BOX by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 39,768 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BOX. StockNews.com cut BOX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on BOX from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of BOX in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on BOX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on BOX from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BOX has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.11.

BOX Price Performance

Shares of BOX stock opened at $30.35 on Friday. Box, Inc. has a one year low of $24.63 and a one year high of $35.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.73 and its 200 day moving average is $32.71. The firm has a market cap of $4.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.93, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 1.00.

BOX declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 4th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at BOX

In related news, CFO Dylan C. Smith sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.05, for a total transaction of $403,650.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,466,684 shares in the company, valued at $45,540,538.20. This represents a 0.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Olivia Nottebohm sold 12,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.85, for a total value of $395,385.90. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 453,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,432,700.10. The trade was a 2.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,363 shares of company stock worth $2,533,374 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

BOX Company Profile

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.