Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT) Shares Sold by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT - Free Report) by 53.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,352 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 146,275 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.20% of Verint Systems worth $3,496,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRNT. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Verint Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,276,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Verint Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $321,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its holdings in Verint Systems by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 775,869 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $21,298,000 after acquiring an additional 189,860 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Verint Systems by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 639,234 shares of the technology company's stock worth $17,547,000 after purchasing an additional 9,361 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Verint Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $1,484,000. 94.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verint Systems Stock Down 1.5%

VRNT stock traded down $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.80. 620,699 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 801,869. Verint Systems Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.15 and a 12 month high of $38.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The technology company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.27 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $253.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $276.82 million. Verint Systems had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 8.49%. The company's revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verint Systems Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Verint Systems

In other Verint Systems news, Director Stephen J. Gold sold 2,744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.07, for a total transaction of $44,096.08. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 28,473 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $457,561.11. This trade represents a 8.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Peter Fante sold 9,439 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total transaction of $155,743.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $337,425. This represents a 31.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRNT. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Verint Systems from $34.00 to $23.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Verint Systems from $36.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Verint Systems from $38.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Verint Systems in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Verint Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.33.

About Verint Systems

Verint Systems Inc provides customer engagement solutions worldwide. It offers forecasting and scheduling, channels and routing, knowledge management, fraud and security solutions, quality and compliance, analytics and insights, real-time assistance, self-services, financial compliance, and voice pf the consumer solutions.