Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 146,763 Shares of XP Inc. $XP

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in XP Inc. (NASDAQ:XP) by 244.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 206,689 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 146,763 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in XP were worth $3,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake in XP by 119.2% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 19,900,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,764,000 after buying an additional 10,820,050 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd acquired a new position in shares of XP in the 2nd quarter valued at $161,639,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of XP in the 4th quarter valued at $80,196,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of XP by 1,433.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,336,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,391,000 after acquiring an additional 3,118,626 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in shares of XP during the 4th quarter worth about $39,145,000. 59.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

XP Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of XP stock opened at $17.06 on Friday. XP Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.80 and a 12-month high of $23.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.29. The company has a quick ratio of 6.66, a current ratio of 6.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

XP declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 19th that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

XP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from XP’s previous annual dividend of $0.18. This represents a yield of 268.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 10th. XP’s payout ratio is currently 22.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

XP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of XP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of XP from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of XP from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, XP has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.33.

XP Company Profile

XP Inc provides financial products and services in Brazil. It offers securities brokerage, private pension plans, commercial, and investment banking products, such as loan operations and transactions in the foreign exchange markets and deposits; product structuring and capital markets services for corporate clients and issuers of fixed income products; advisory services for mass-affluent and institutional clients; and wealth management services for high-net-worth customers and institutional clients.