Lazard Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in Bandwidth Inc. (NASDAQ:BAND)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bandwidth Inc. (NASDAQ:BAND - Free Report) by 54.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 89,455 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,456 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.33% of Bandwidth worth $1,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bandwidth by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 300,076 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,107,000 after purchasing an additional 32,709 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Bandwidth by 136.1% in the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 27,757 shares of the company's stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bandwidth during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Bandwidth by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,769,027 shares of the company's stock worth $30,109,000 after buying an additional 73,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Bandwidth by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,249,120 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,260,000 after buying an additional 112,269 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bandwidth

In other news, General Counsel Richard Brandon Asbill sold 9,878 shares of Bandwidth stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.24, for a total value of $150,540.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 42,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $647,319. The trade was a 18.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Daryl Raiford sold 24,253 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.58, for a total value of $377,861.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 113,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,772,926.10. The trade was a 17.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,721 shares of company stock valued at $992,965 over the last three months. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bandwidth Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BAND traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $13.80. The company had a trading volume of 179,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 287,655. The stock has a market cap of $410.73 million, a P/E ratio of -24.21 and a beta of 1.88. The company's 50 day moving average price is $13.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Bandwidth Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.33 and a 52-week high of $23.90.

Bandwidth (NASDAQ:BAND - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. Bandwidth had a positive return on equity of 0.53% and a negative net margin of 0.87%. The business had revenue of $174.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.96 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. Bandwidth's revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bandwidth Inc. will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BAND. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Bandwidth from $18.00 to $11.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Bandwidth from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on shares of Bandwidth in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Bandwidth in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Bandwidth in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.80.

Bandwidth Company Profile

Bandwidth is a leading enterprise cloud communications company. Companies like Cisco, Google, Microsoft, RingCentral, Uber, and Zoom use Bandwidth's APIs to easily embed voice, messaging, and emergency services into software and applications. Bandwidth is the first and only CPaaS provider offering a robust selection of communications APIs built around their own IP voice network.