UBS Group Upgrades BOX (NYSE:BOX) to "Strong-Buy"

UBS Group upgraded shares of BOX (NYSE:BOX - Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $40.00 price target on the software maker's stock, up from their prior price target of $37.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of BOX in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BOX from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of BOX in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of BOX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of BOX from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.50.

BOX Stock Performance

Shares of BOX traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.84. The stock had a trading volume of 3,948,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,909,790. The business has a fifty day moving average of $31.19 and a 200 day moving average of $32.17. The firm has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.94. BOX has a 12 month low of $24.63 and a 12 month high of $37.96.

BOX (NYSE:BOX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The software maker reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $276.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.77 million. BOX had a negative return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that BOX will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BOX declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 4th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the software maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at BOX

In other news, COO Olivia Nottebohm sold 1,332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.01, for a total transaction of $38,641.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 492,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,288,730.45. The trade was a 0.27% 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 this link. Also, CFO Dylan C. Smith sold 13,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $415,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,440,684 shares in the company, valued at $46,029,853.80. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,377 shares of company stock worth $2,060,714. Insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BOX

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of BOX by 103.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,386,370 shares of the software maker's stock worth $107,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725,197 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in BOX in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,973,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in BOX during the 4th quarter worth $24,234,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in BOX by 420.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 857,498 shares of the software maker's stock worth $27,097,000 after purchasing an additional 692,784 shares during the period. Finally, Sunriver Management LLC raised its position in BOX by 62.9% during the 1st quarter. Sunriver Management LLC now owns 1,546,862 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $47,736,000 after purchasing an additional 597,410 shares in the last quarter. 86.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.