Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 52,350 Shares of i3 Verticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IIIV)

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in i3 Verticals, Inc. by 6.5%, now holding 759,200 shares after selling 52,350 shares in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors own approximately 84.22% of i3 Verticals, with several firms, including NBC Securities and Mirae Asset Global Investments, significantly increasing their positions in the stock.
• Analyst ratings for i3 Verticals show a mixed outlook, with Morgan Stanley lowering its price target from $27.00 to $25.00, while Benchmark maintains a "buy" rating with a target of $33.00.

Heartland Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in i3 Verticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IIIV - Free Report) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 759,200 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,350 shares during the quarter. i3 Verticals accounts for 1.1% of Heartland Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 2.30% of i3 Verticals worth $18,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in i3 Verticals by 112,500.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of i3 Verticals by 2,744.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,048 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 1,976 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of i3 Verticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in i3 Verticals in the 4th quarter valued at $99,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in i3 Verticals by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,260 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 1,809 shares in the last quarter. 84.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

i3 Verticals Price Performance

IIIV traded down $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 58,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 299,684. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $952.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.51 and a beta of 1.24. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $26.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.75. i3 Verticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.42 and a 12 month high of $30.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Geoffrey C. Smith sold 8,404 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.56, for a total transaction of $223,210.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 55,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,460,800. This represents a 13.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Burton Harvey sold 71,860 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.81, for a total transaction of $1,782,846.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $279,980.85. This represents a 86.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 377,261 shares of company stock valued at $9,374,552. 59.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on IIIV. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on i3 Verticals from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of i3 Verticals in a report on Monday, June 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.57.

i3 Verticals Company Profile

i3 Verticals, Inc provides integrated payment and software solutions primarily to the public sector and healthcare markets in the United States. It operates in two segments, Software and Services, and Merchant Services. The company offers payment processing services that enables upper and lower court case management, collections, finance and accounting, motor vehicle and carrier registration, e-filing and taxation, license plate inventory, property tax management, utility billing, professional licensing, document workflow, and law enforcement software; assists public schools in completing payment processing functions, including accepting payments for online or at school lunches, and school activities.