Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 14,229 Shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. $VBTX

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Veritex Holdings, Inc. by 18.5% to a total of $1.56 million, after selling 14,229 shares in the first quarter.
• Recent analyst ratings have shown optimism towards Veritex, with several brokerages giving the stock "buy" ratings and adjustments to target prices between $34.00 and $39.00.
• Veritex announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 2.6% and a payout ratio of 41.90%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) by 18.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,539 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,229 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Veritex worth $1,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex in the first quarter worth approximately $29,215,000. Millennium Management LLC raised 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 worth $26,247,000 after acquiring an additional 664,885 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Veritex by 1,813.1% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 614,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,353,000 after acquiring an additional 582,733 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Veritex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,644,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in Veritex by 57.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 454,015 shares in the last quarter. 88.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Veritex

In related news, EVP Angela Harper sold 47,716 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.37, for a total value of $1,544,566.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 59,683 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,931,938.71. The trade was a 44.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Fallon William sold 7,220 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.68, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 320,699 shares of company stock worth $10,361,627. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Veritex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VBTX traded up $0.74 on Thursday, hitting $34.73. 2,087,010 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 586,538. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $20.37 and a one year high of $34.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 1.08. The company's 50 day moving average price is $31.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.54.

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

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Veritex's payout ratio is 41.90%.

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.