Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for BOX (NYSE:BOX) Stock Price

BOX (NYSE:BOX) had its price target cut by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $36.00 to $35.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the software maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 18.06% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BOX. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of BOX in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on BOX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of BOX in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of BOX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of BOX from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.44.

BOX Stock Down 0.4 %

BOX opened at $29.65 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.34. BOX has a 52-week low of $24.63 and a 52-week high of $35.74. The company has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.96.

BOX announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 4th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BOX news, COO Olivia Nottebohm sold 1,332 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total transaction of $38,641.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 492,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,288,730.45. This trade represents a 0.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dylan C. Smith sold 13,000 shares of BOX stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.32, for a total value of $446,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,453,684 shares in the company, valued at $49,890,434.88. This represents a 0.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,996 shares of company stock valued at $2,329,886 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BOX. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BOX by 332.5% in the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 865 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in BOX by 519.4% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,951 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BOX by 715.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,897 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in shares of BOX by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,194 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of BOX by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.74% 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.