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

Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened 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.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on BOX. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of BOX in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of BOX from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com cut BOX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on BOX from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on BOX from $34.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Eli Berkovitch sold 4,792 shares of BOX stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.46, for a total transaction of $155,548.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 140,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,983.12. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dylan C. Smith sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.05, for a total transaction of $403,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,466,684 shares in the company, valued at $45,540,538.20. The trade was a 0.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,041 shares of company stock valued at $2,889,758 over the last three months. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BOX

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BOX. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of BOX by 4.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,743 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in BOX in the 3rd quarter valued at about $211,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BOX by 245.4% during the third 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 during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of BOX during the third quarter valued at approximately $486,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of BOX by 37.0% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 24,969 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 6,738 shares during the period. 86.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BOX Stock Down 3.1 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.82 and a 200-day moving average of $32.62. The company has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.54, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.88.

BOX declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.