Wall Street Zen Upgrades Veritone (NASDAQ:VERI) to "Hold"

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Veritone from “Sell” to “Hold.” The broader analyst consensus is also “Hold,” with three Buy ratings, one Hold, one Sell, and an average price target of $6.12.
• Veritone shares opened at $0.65, near their 52-week low of $0.51, while the company reported a quarterly loss of $0.11 per share and revenue of $24.26 million, below the $28.29 million consensus estimate.
• CEO Ryan Steelberg purchased 148,810 shares for approximately $126,489, increasing his ownership by 25.59%; insiders own 7.37% of the company, while institutional investors hold 39.18%.

Veritone (NASDAQ:VERI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on VERI. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Veritone from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Veritone in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.12.

Veritone Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of Veritone stock opened at $0.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $65.95 million, a PE ratio of -1.71 and a beta of 2.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $0.84 and a 200 day moving average of $1.85. Veritone has a 52 week low of $0.51 and a 52 week high of $6.90.

Veritone (NASDAQ:VERI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.11). Veritone had a negative net margin of 111.90% and a negative return on equity of 159.15%. The company had revenue of $24.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.29 million.

Insider Activity at Veritone

In related news, CEO Ryan Steelberg bought 148,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $0.85 per share, with a total value of $126,488.50. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 730,284 shares in the company, valued at $620,741.40. This trade represents a 25.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 7.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veritone

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SummitTX Capital L.P. bought a new position in shares of Veritone in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in shares of Veritone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Veritone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Veritone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $113,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its holdings in Veritone by 115.7% in the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 76,800 shares of the company's stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 41,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.18% of the company's stock.

About Veritone

Veritone, Inc NASDAQ: VERI is an artificial intelligence technology company that develops software for organizing, analyzing and generating insights from large volumes of data. Its platform is designed to help organizations apply AI to audio, video, text and other data sources across business and public-sector applications.

The company's primary technology platform, aiWARE, provides access to a broad range of AI models and tools through a unified operating environment. Veritone also offers solutions for digital media management, including tools that help media organizations, sports teams and other content owners manage, search, monetize and distribute audio and video assets.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.