Natixis Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA)

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:ZBRA - Free Report) by 15.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,997 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,659 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Zebra Technologies were worth $5,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Zebra Technologies by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 651 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Zebra Technologies by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 794 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Zebra Technologies by 29.7% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 192 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems grew its position in Zebra Technologies by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 8,515 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,289,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Zebra Technologies by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 344 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ZBRA. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Zebra Technologies from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $408.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Zebra Technologies from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Zebra Technologies from $320.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $342.00 target price (up from $280.00) on shares of Zebra Technologies in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Zebra Technologies from $425.00 to $410.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Zebra Technologies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $357.44.

Zebra Technologies Price Performance

ZBRA traded up $5.71 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $308.31. 1,127,110 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 555,602. Zebra Technologies Corporation has a 12-month low of $205.73 and a 12-month high of $427.76. The company's 50-day moving average is $312.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $302.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $15.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.11 and a beta of 1.75.

Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.31 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Zebra Technologies had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 18.95%. Zebra Technologies's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.18 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Zebra Technologies Corporation will post 13.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zebra Technologies announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 5th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Zebra Technologies Profile

Zebra Technologies Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides enterprise asset intelligence solutions in the automatic identification and data capture solutions industry worldwide. It operates in two segments, Asset Intelligence & Tracking, and Enterprise Visibility & Mobility. The company designs, manufactures, and sells printers that produce labels, wristbands, tickets, receipts, and plastic cards; dye-sublimination thermal card printers that produce images, which are used for personal identification, access control, and financial transactions; radio frequency identification device (RFID) printers that encode data into passive RFID transponders; accessories and options for printers, including carrying cases, vehicle mounts, and battery chargers; stock and customized thermal labels, receipts, ribbons, plastic cards, and RFID tags for printers; and temperature-monitoring labels primarily used in vaccine distribution.