Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 129,712 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.11% of Bank OZK worth $5,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OZK. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the 4th quarter worth about $53,114,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in Bank OZK by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,102,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149,880 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,945,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,162,000 after buying an additional 686,775 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Bank OZK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,077,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Bank OZK by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,811,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,190,000 after buying an additional 314,488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Stephens reduced their price objective on Bank OZK from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Bank OZK from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.86.

Bank OZK Trading Up 0.2%

OZK opened at $51.04 on Friday. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $35.71 and a 12-month high of $53.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a PE ratio of 8.37 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $45.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.49.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.66% and a return on equity of 13.46%. The business had revenue of $409.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.20%.

Bank OZK 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.