Lazard Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO)

Lazard Asset Management LLC reduced its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (NYSE:ZTO - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 742,607 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 72,196 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.12% of ZTO Express (Cayman) worth $14,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in ZTO Express (Cayman) during the fourth quarter valued at $316,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 2,787.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 295,725 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $5,781,000 after purchasing an additional 285,484 shares during the last quarter. XY Capital Ltd increased its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 208.9% during the fourth quarter. XY Capital Ltd now owns 396,873 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $7,759,000 after purchasing an additional 268,387 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in ZTO Express (Cayman) by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,061 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC acquired a new stake in ZTO Express (Cayman) during the fourth quarter worth about $232,000. 41.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ZTO. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. HSBC upgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.28.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of ZTO Express (Cayman) stock traded up $0.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $18.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,553,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,784,682. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.50. The firm has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of -0.14. ZTO Express has a fifty-two week low of $16.34 and a fifty-two week high of $27.50.

ZTO Express (Cayman) (NYSE:ZTO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 18th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.02). ZTO Express (Cayman) had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 15.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.73 billion. On average, analysts predict that ZTO Express will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.7%. ZTO Express (Cayman)'s payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

ZTO Express (Cayman) Company Profile

ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc provides express delivery and other value-added logistics services in the People's Republic of China. It offers freight forwarding services; and delivery services for e-commerce and traditional merchants, and other express service users. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China.