Phocas Financial Corp. Cuts Holdings in Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT)

Phocas Financial Corp. decreased its position in Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 181,237 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,668 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Verint Systems were worth $4,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRNT. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Verint Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Verint Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $52,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verint Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verint Systems by 808.0% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,925 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verint Systems news, insider Peter Fante sold 9,439 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total value of $155,743.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $337,425. This represents a 31.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Stephen J. Gold sold 2,744 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 28,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $457,561.11. This represents a 8.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verint Systems Stock Performance

VRNT opened at $16.80 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $17.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.64. Verint Systems Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.15 and a twelve month high of $38.17.

Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The technology company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.27 by ($0.28). Verint Systems had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 8.49%. The business had revenue of $253.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $276.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. Verint Systems’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verint Systems Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on VRNT shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Verint Systems in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verint Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Verint Systems from $38.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Verint Systems from $36.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Verint Systems from $34.00 to $23.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verint Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.33.

About Verint Systems

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.