Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 25,873 Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 36.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,576 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,873 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $2,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in OZK. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 176.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 81.3% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on OZK. Stephens decreased their target price on Bank OZK from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Bank OZK from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.13.

Bank OZK Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of OZK opened at $46.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Bank OZK has a one year low of $35.71 and a one year high of $53.64. The company has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.64 and a beta of 0.85.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $409.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.05 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 14th. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.20%.

About Bank OZK

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.