MetLife Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX)

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,995 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,759 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of BOX worth $2,686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at BOX

In related news, CFO Dylan C. Smith sold 13,000 shares of BOX stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.32, for a total value of $446,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,453,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,890,434.88. This trade represents a 0.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Aaron Levie sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.08, for a total value of $320,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,979,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,591,342.40. This represents a 0.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,022 shares of company stock worth $2,198,045 in the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BOX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of BOX in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com downgraded BOX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of BOX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of BOX from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BOX currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.44.

BOX Stock Performance

BOX opened at $30.96 on Monday. Box, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.63 and a 1 year high of $35.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 38.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.96.

BOX announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, March 4th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the software maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership 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.