Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 902 Shares of Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,725 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 902 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in BOX were worth $718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BOX by 715.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,897 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of BOX by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,579 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of BOX during the fourth quarter worth approximately $132,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of BOX during the fourth quarter worth approximately $134,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of BOX by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,403 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 1,420 shares in the last quarter. 86.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on BOX from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded BOX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on BOX from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on BOX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of BOX in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BOX presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Olivia Nottebohm sold 6,079 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.42, for a total value of $209,239.18. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 440,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,178,806.96. This represents a 1.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Dylan C. Smith sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total value of $386,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,463,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,508,623.72. This represents a 0.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 72,996 shares of company stock worth $2,329,886. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

BOX Stock Performance

BOX stock opened at $29.84 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $31.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.36. The company has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.96. Box, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.63 and a fifty-two week high of $35.74.

BOX announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 4th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the software maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

BOX Profile

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.