Legal & General Group Plc Sells 14,769 Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 164,701 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,769 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.15% of Bank OZK worth $7,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Bank OZK during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Bank OZK by 176.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 761 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 81.3% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 948 shares of the company's stock worth $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 during the fourth quarter valued at $54,000. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on OZK. Stephens reduced their price objective on Bank OZK from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.13.

Bank OZK Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Bank OZK stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.75. 761,178 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,332,857. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.82. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $35.71 and a twelve month high of $53.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last posted 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 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The firm had revenue of $409.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $403.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 14th. This is a boost from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.12%. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio 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.