First Manhattan CO. LLC. Sells 31,200 Shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. trimmed its stake in shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX - Free Report) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 426,975 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 31,200 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC. owned approximately 0.78% of Veritex worth $11,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Veritex during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Veritex by 117.0% during 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. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Veritex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Veritex by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Veritex by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621 shares during the last quarter. 88.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veritex Trading Up 3.7%

Veritex stock traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $24.85. 328,200 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 391,584. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $23.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.01. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.74 and a fifty-two week high of $31.62.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $109.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.73 million. Veritex had a return on equity of 7.59% and a net margin of 13.44%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Veritex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. This is a boost from Veritex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. Veritex's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VBTX. Hovde Group raised Veritex from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James lowered Veritex from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $31.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Veritex from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Veritex in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Veritex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Veritex presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.