Northern Trust Corp Sells 24,275 Shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. $VBTX

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Veritex Holdings by 4.2%, selling 24,275 shares and now holds approximately 1.03% of the company, valued at $13.96 million.
• CEO C Malcolm Holland III sold 125,762 shares of Veritex, reflecting a 29.92% decrease in his holdings, while the company recently reported earnings of $0.56 per share, beating estimates.
• Veritex announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, which equates to an annualized dividend of $0.88 and a yield of 2.6% for shareholders.

Northern Trust Corp lessened its stake in shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 559,203 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 24,275 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.03% of Veritex worth $13,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Veritex by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,931,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $98,172,000 after acquiring an additional 56,676 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Veritex by 3.0% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,040,856 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,960,000 after buying an additional 59,056 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Veritex by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,239,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,675,000 after buying an additional 454,015 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Veritex during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,215,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veritex by 220.5% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 966,391 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,247,000 after purchasing an additional 664,885 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Veritex

In related 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 value of $325,300.00. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO C Malcolm Holland III sold 125,762 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.26, for a total transaction of $4,057,082.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 294,508 shares in the company, valued at $9,500,828.08. This represents a 29.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 320,699 shares of company stock valued at $10,361,627. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Veritex Price Performance

VBTX traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.44. 277,792 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 585,096. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $20.37 and a one year high of $34.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.72.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Veritex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.90%.

About Veritex

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.