BNP Paribas Financial Markets Cuts Holdings in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its holdings in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,136 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.10% of Veritex worth $1,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Veritex by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 824 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Veritex by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex in the 4th quarter valued at $143,000. Finally, 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.31% of the company’s stock.

Veritex Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ VBTX opened at $25.11 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.74 and a 12 month high of $31.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.10.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. Veritex had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.59%. The business had revenue of $109.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Veritex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Veritex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio is 43.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Veritex from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James cut shares of Veritex from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $31.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Veritex from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Veritex from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Veritex in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veritex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Veritex 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.