Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 13,692 Shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. cut its stake in shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 223,728 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,692 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.41% of Veritex worth $6,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex during the 4th quarter valued at $11,172,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Veritex in the fourth quarter valued at $6,974,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in Veritex by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 601,276 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,331,000 after purchasing an additional 207,376 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Veritex during the fourth quarter worth about $3,797,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Veritex by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,803,752 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $76,149,000 after purchasing an additional 125,189 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VBTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Hovde Group upgraded Veritex from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James lowered Veritex from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Veritex in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Veritex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Veritex from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.25.

Veritex Trading Up 0.5%

VBTX traded up $0.12 on Thursday, hitting $24.43. 282,204 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 388,305. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 1.01. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.27 and a 12 month high of $31.62.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. Veritex had a return on equity of 7.59% and a net margin of 13.44%. The firm had revenue of $109.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Veritex Increases Dividend

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

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.