AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 46,036 Shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. $VBTX

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Veritex Holdings, Inc. by 10.4%, selling 46,036 shares, and now holds 398,479 shares valued at approximately $9.95 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings for Veritex, with Piper Sandler maintaining a "neutral" rating, while DA Davidson set a new price target of $39.00 and a "buy" rating.
• Veritex announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, which is set to yield 2.6% annually, with the ex-dividend date on September 16th.

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) by 10.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 398,479 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 46,036 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.73% of Veritex worth $9,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VBTX. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Veritex by 12.6% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,568 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its position in shares of Veritex by 0.8% during the first quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 430,183 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,742,000 after buying an additional 3,208 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Veritex by 144.3% during the first quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 42,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,060,000 after buying an additional 25,068 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Veritex by 327.6% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 6,534 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 5,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Veritex by 26.9% in the first quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. now owns 117,883 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,944,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.31% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Veritex

In other Veritex news, insider Cara Mcdaniel sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.53, for a total transaction of $325,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $565,111.16. The trade was a 36.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arcilia Acosta sold 7,279 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.14, for a total value of $233,947.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 54,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,765,546.62. This represents a 11.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 320,699 shares of company stock valued at $10,361,627 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Veritex Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:VBTX traded down $0.48 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.64. 981,070 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 817,790. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.37 and a 52-week high of $34.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 1.08. The business's fifty day moving average is $32.46 and its 200-day moving average is $27.06.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $109.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.91 million. Veritex had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 7.55%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Veritex's payout ratio is 41.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $34.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of Veritex in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Veritex from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. William Blair raised shares of Veritex to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Veritex in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Veritex from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.25.

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.