Squarepoint Ops LLC Takes Position in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX)

Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 15,895 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $432,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Veritex by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Veritex by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,166 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 751 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its position in 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 last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Veritex by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 992 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Veritex by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 17,020 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. 88.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Veritex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Veritex from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $31.00 to $28.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Veritex in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Veritex from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Veritex Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of VBTX traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.84. 309,742 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 389,177. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $23.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.02. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.27 and a 12-month high of $31.62.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $109.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.73 million. Veritex had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.59%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Veritex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 8th. This is an increase from Veritex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Veritex's payout ratio is currently 43.14%.

Veritex Company 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.