Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 56,400 Shares of Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX)

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX - Free Report) by 48.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,803 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 56,400 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in BOX were worth $1,888,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BOX. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BOX by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 7,896,931 shares of the software maker's stock worth $249,543,000 after buying an additional 162,437 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of BOX by 103.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,386,370 shares of the software maker's stock worth $107,009,000 after buying an additional 1,725,197 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of BOX by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 3,286,619 shares of the software maker's stock worth $103,857,000 after buying an additional 255,623 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of BOX by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,610,450 shares of the software maker's stock worth $82,492,000 after buying an additional 11,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BOX by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,205,926 shares of the software maker's stock worth $69,707,000 after buying an additional 233,100 shares in the last quarter. 86.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BOX Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of BOX stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $31.56. 1,559,083 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,817,509. The company has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 39.45, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.94. Box, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.63 and a 12-month high of $35.74. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $30.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.18.

BOX declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 4th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BOX news, CFO Dylan C. Smith sold 13,000 shares of BOX stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.52, for a total transaction of $409,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,520,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,927,736. This trade represents a 0.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Aaron Levie sold 10,000 shares of BOX stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,979,780 shares in the company, valued at $95,591,342.40. This trade represents a 0.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,377 shares of company stock valued at $2,060,714. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of BOX from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $38.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of BOX in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of BOX in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of BOX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of BOX from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $36.44.

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.