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, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 206,689 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 146,763 shares during the quarter. 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.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its stake in XP by 119.2% in the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 19,900,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,764,000 after buying an additional 10,820,050 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd acquired a new position in XP during the 2nd quarter worth $161,639,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in XP during the 4th quarter worth $80,196,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in XP by 1,433.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,336,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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 stake in XP during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,145,000. 59.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

XP Stock Performance

NASDAQ XP opened at $17.06 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.29. XP Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.80 and a 52-week high of $23.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 6.66 and a quick ratio of 6.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.10.

XP Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 10th. This is a boost from XP’s previous annual dividend of $0.18. This represents a dividend yield of 268.0%. XP’s dividend payout ratio is 22.10%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on XP. Zacks Research lowered XP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their price target on XP from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised XP from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.33.

XP 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.