MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $15.35 Million Stock Position in Veritex Holdings, Inc. $VBTX

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Veritex Holdings by 1,813.1% in Q1, owning approximately 614,873 shares valued at $15.35 million.
• Insiders at Veritex have sold a total of 320,699 shares worth over $10 million in recent transactions, reducing their overall ownership.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings for Veritex, with a consensus price target of $33.25 and a current average rating of "Moderate Buy".

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) by 1,813.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 614,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 582,733 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.13% of Veritex worth $15,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veritex in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Veritex by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,528 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 824 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veritex in the fourth quarter worth about $143,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Veritex in the first quarter worth about $227,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veritex in the fourth quarter worth about $231,000. 88.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veritex Stock Up 0.1%

NASDAQ VBTX traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $34.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 492,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 739,352. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.34. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.37 and a 1-year high of $34.46.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $109.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $110.91 million. Veritex had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 7.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 7th. Veritex's payout ratio is presently 41.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Fallon William sold 7,220 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.68, for a total value of $221,509.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $435,379.88. The trade was a 33.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arcilia Acosta sold 7,279 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.14, for a total transaction of $233,947.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 54,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,765,546.62. The trade was a 11.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 320,699 shares of company stock valued at $10,361,627 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VBTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Veritex in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Veritex from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Veritex from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $34.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of Veritex in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Veritex to an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.25.

Veritex 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.