Westport Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT)

Westport Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT) by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,500 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Westport Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Verint Systems were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Verint Systems by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,367,685 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $244,239,000 after acquiring an additional 185,105 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verint Systems by 5.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,143,227 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $133,412,000 after purchasing an additional 232,499 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Verint Systems by 4.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,918,925 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,792,000 after purchasing an additional 73,441 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Verint Systems by 26.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,516,409 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,411,000 after purchasing an additional 317,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. lifted its position in Verint Systems by 22.6% during the third quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 1,231,703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,199,000 after buying an additional 227,000 shares during the period. 94.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verint Systems news, CFO Grant A. Highlander sold 3,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total value of $87,605.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 131,267 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,393,251.95. This represents a 2.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dan Bodner sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total value of $437,692.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 592,832 shares in the company, valued at $15,324,707.20. The trade was a 2.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,811 shares of company stock worth $874,014. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Verint Systems Stock Performance

VRNT stock traded down $0.54 on Tuesday, hitting $24.28. The company had a trading volume of 33,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 635,515. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.20. Verint Systems Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.27 and a 12-month high of $38.17.

Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.04). Verint Systems had a net margin of 6.78% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $210.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verint Systems Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VRNT shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Verint Systems in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Verint Systems in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Verint Systems from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Verint Systems from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Verint Systems from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verint Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.67.

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.