Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 371,658 Shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) by 52.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 342,836 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 371,658 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.63% of Veritex worth $8,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Veritex by 117.0% during the 4th 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. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Veritex in the fourth quarter worth about $143,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted 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 in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veritex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Veritex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $231,000. 88.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veritex Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:VBTX traded up $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.12. The stock had a trading volume of 137,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 389,694. The firm's fifty day moving average is $23.71 and its 200 day moving average is $25.35. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.78 and a 52 week high of $31.62. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. Veritex had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 14.12%. The company had revenue of $109.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.73 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veritex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. This is an increase from Veritex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Veritex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VBTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Veritex from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Veritex in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial lowered 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 research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Veritex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veritex presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.25.

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.