Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC lowered its position in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,919 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,130 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $793,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Bank OZK in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 303.9% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 929 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 699 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank OZK by 601.0% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Bank OZK in the fourth quarter worth $73,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Bank OZK from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Bank OZK from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $62.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.14.

Bank OZK Stock Down 0.8 %

OZK traded down $0.36 on Wednesday, reaching $46.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 222,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,174,909. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Bank OZK has a 1 year low of $30.72 and a 1 year high of $52.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $44.29 and its 200 day moving average is $44.12. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.85 and a beta of 1.24.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.07. Bank OZK had a net margin of 28.54% and a return on equity of 14.84%. The firm had revenue of $406.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

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.