California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 11,266 Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 218,230 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,266 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $10,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 10,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 30,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank OZK by 4.0% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 8,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 4.8% during the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 6,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of OZK stock opened at $45.44 on Thursday. Bank OZK has a 52 week low of $30.72 and a 52 week high of $52.36. The company has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $406.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $396.81 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 28.54%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OZK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Bank OZK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $62.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut shares of Bank OZK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.14.

Bank OZK Company Profile

Bank OZK provides various retail and commercial banking services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers deposit services, including non-interest bearing checking, interest bearing transaction, business sweep, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other accounts, as well as time and reciprocal deposits.