Raymond James & Associates Cuts Position in Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT)

Raymond James & Associates cut its stake in Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,144 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 493 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Verint Systems were worth $355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verint Systems in the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Verint Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $962,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Verint Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $811,000. Caxton Associates LP boosted its position in shares of Verint Systems by 442.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 55,903 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 45,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verint Systems by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 12,146 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,939 shares in the last quarter. 94.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verint Systems Stock Performance

Shares of VRNT opened at $30.93 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.43. Verint Systems Inc. has a one year low of $18.41 and a one year high of $40.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20.

Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $265.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $261.45 million. Verint Systems had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 4.24%. As a group, research analysts predict that Verint Systems Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dan Bodner sold 33,472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.29, for a total value of $1,047,338.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 860,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,929,112.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Dan Bodner sold 33,472 shares of Verint Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.29, for a total value of $1,047,338.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 860,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,929,112.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Elan Moriah sold 14,353 shares of Verint Systems stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.62, for a total value of $468,194.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 79,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,608,066.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,988 shares of company stock valued at $4,873,715 in the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRNT. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Verint Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Verint Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. TheStreet raised Verint Systems from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised Verint Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Verint Systems in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.20.

Verint Systems 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.