Meeder Asset Management Inc. Grows Position in Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Veritex Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:VBTX) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Veritex were worth $146,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VBTX. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Veritex during the 3rd quarter worth about $11,139,000. Schroder Investment Management Group acquired a new stake in shares of Veritex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,172,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veritex in the 4th quarter worth about $6,974,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Veritex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,797,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Veritex by 24.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 631,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,618,000 after acquiring an additional 122,809 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.31% of the company’s stock.

Veritex Trading Up 2.0 %

VBTX opened at $24.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.36. Veritex Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.74 and a fifty-two week high of $31.62.

Veritex (NASDAQ:VBTX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.02). Veritex had a net margin of 13.44% and a return on equity of 7.59%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Veritex Holdings, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Veritex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. Veritex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VBTX shares. Stephens cut their price target on Veritex from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Veritex in a report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Veritex from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Hovde Group raised shares of Veritex from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.50 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veritex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.50.

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.