Raymond James Financial Inc. Grows Position in Veritex Holdings, Inc. $VBTX

Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 270,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,216 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.50% of Veritex worth $6,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Veritex by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 47,636 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,294,000 after buying an additional 15,596 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Veritex by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 2,653 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Veritex during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,085,000. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Veritex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $381,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new position in Veritex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.31% of the company's stock.

Veritex Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of VBTX stock traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $34.22. 551,337 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 718,649. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 1.08. 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 12-month low of $20.37 and a 12-month high of $34.96. The company's 50-day moving average price is $31.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.65.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Veritex Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Sughrue sold 5,669 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $181,408.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 50,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,620,864. The trade was a 10.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Angela Harper sold 47,716 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.37, for a total transaction of $1,544,566.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 59,683 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,931,938.71. This trade represents a 44.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 320,699 shares of company stock worth $10,361,627. 4.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.