BOX (NYSE:BOX) Hits New 12-Month High Following Strong Earnings

Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $36.66 and last traded at $36.62, with a volume of 4248739 shares changing hands. 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. The business had revenue of $276.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $274.77 million. BOX had a negative return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 EPS.

BOX declared that its board has initiated 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 usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on BOX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BOX from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group raised shares of BOX from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $37.00 to $40.00 in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reissued a "positive" rating on shares of BOX in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson set a $45.00 target price on BOX and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.50.

Insider Activity at BOX

In other news, CFO Dylan C. Smith sold 13,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $415,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,440,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,029,853.80. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Aaron Levie sold 10,000 shares of BOX stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.08, for a total transaction of $320,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,979,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,591,342.40. The trade was a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,377 shares of company stock valued at $2,060,714 over the last 90 days. 3.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BOX

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its holdings in BOX by 115.4% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 825 shares of the software maker's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in BOX by 332.5% during the 1st quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 865 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BOX in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BOX in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of BOX by 519.4% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,951 shares of the software maker's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 1,636 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.74% of the company's stock.

BOX Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a PE ratio of 47.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.17.

About BOX

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.