Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $30.00 target price on the technology company's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Verint Systems in a research note on Wednesday. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Verint Systems in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Verint Systems from $36.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verint Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.33.

Verint Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRNT traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $19.09. 1,416,103 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 816,223. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.41. Verint Systems has a twelve month low of $14.15 and a twelve month high of $38.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.13 and a 200 day moving average of $22.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The technology company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $173.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.61 million. Verint Systems had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 15.79%. Verint Systems's revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Verint Systems will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verint Systems news, Director Stephen J. Gold sold 2,744 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $457,561.11. This trade represents a 8.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Peter Fante sold 9,439 shares of Verint Systems stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,450 shares in the company, valued at $337,425. This trade represents a 31.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Verint Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRNT. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its position in Verint Systems by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 142,398 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,909,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Verint Systems by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,955 shares of the technology company's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its position in Verint Systems by 7.4% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 9,384 shares of the technology company's stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Philadelphia Trust Co. raised its position in Verint Systems by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Philadelphia Trust Co. now owns 106,800 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in Verint Systems by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 121,900 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. 94.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verint Systems Company Profile

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.