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

Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX)’s share price 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 changing hands.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of BOX in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BOX in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of BOX in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of BOX from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of BOX from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Eli Berkovitch sold 4,792 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.46, for a total value of $155,548.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 140,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,983.12. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Olivia Nottebohm sold 6,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.42, for a total transaction of $209,239.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 440,988 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,178,806.96. The trade was a 1.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 89,041 shares of company stock worth $2,889,758. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BOX

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in BOX by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 341,606 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $10,795,000 after acquiring an additional 75,041 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in BOX by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 8,540 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,372 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in BOX by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 445,096 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $14,065,000 after acquiring an additional 75,098 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of BOX by 63.3% during the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 15,294 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 5,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of BOX by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 116,662 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,687,000 after buying an additional 15,475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.74% of the company’s stock.

BOX Trading Down 0.7 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.62. The stock has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.21, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.88.

BOX declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, March 4th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.