Ameriprise Financial Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 223,728 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,692 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of Veritex worth $6,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Veritex by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 84,336 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,291,000 after acquiring an additional 4,951 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Veritex in the 4th quarter valued at $256,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Veritex by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 444,515 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,073,000 after acquiring an additional 33,566 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its holdings in Veritex by 94.1% in the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 138,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,748,000 after acquiring an additional 66,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its holdings in Veritex by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,528 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 824 shares during the last quarter. 88.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Veritex Price Performance

Shares of Veritex stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $24.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 147,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,370. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $18.74 and a one year high of $31.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.92. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 1.01.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. Veritex had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.59%. The firm had revenue of $109.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $110.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Veritex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 8th. This is a boost from Veritex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Veritex's payout ratio is currently 43.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VBTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Veritex from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Veritex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Veritex from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.50 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Veritex in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Veritex from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $28.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veritex presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Veritex Company Profile

Veritex Holdings, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Veritex Community Bank that provides various commercial banking products and services to small and medium-sized businesses, and professionals. The company accepts deposit products include demand, savings, money market, and time accounts. Its loan products include commercial real estate and general commercial, mortgage warehouse loans, residential real estate, construction and land, farmland, paycheck protection program, 1-4 family residential, agricultural, multi-family residential, and consumer loans, as well as purchased receivables financing.