BOX (NYSE:BOX) Sets New 52-Week High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $36.66 and last traded at $36.62, with a volume of 4248739 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.45.

The software maker reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.05. BOX had a negative return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company had revenue of $276.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.77 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis.

BOX announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 4th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in 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 generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BOX. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on BOX from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BOX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised BOX from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reissued a "positive" rating on shares of BOX in a report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on BOX from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.11.

Insider Transactions at BOX

In other news, CEO Aaron Levie sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.08, for a total value of $320,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,979,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at $95,591,342.40. The trade was a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dylan C. Smith sold 13,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.52, for a total value of $409,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,520,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,927,736. The trade was a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,377 shares of company stock valued at $2,060,714 over the last three months. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BOX

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in BOX during the first quarter valued at about $349,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BOX in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BOX by 29.2% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 71,596 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,209,000 after buying an additional 16,179 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of BOX by 7.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 477,822 shares of the software maker's stock worth $14,746,000 after buying an additional 32,726 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of BOX by 16.4% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 17,800 shares of the software maker's stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 2,506 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.74% of the company's stock.

BOX Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.16. The company has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 46.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.94.

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.