Verint Systems’ (VRNT) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $40.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 54.02% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on VRNT. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Verint Systems from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Verint Systems from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Verint Systems in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Verint Systems in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verint Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.67.

Verint Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRNT opened at $25.97 on Thursday. Verint Systems has a twelve month low of $21.27 and a twelve month high of $38.17. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.89. The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 38.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $210.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.81 million. Verint Systems had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 6.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verint Systems will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verint Systems

In related news, CEO Dan Bodner sold 16,932 shares of Verint Systems stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total value of $437,692.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 592,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,324,707.20. This trade represents a 2.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Elan Moriah sold 7,160 shares of Verint Systems stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.85, for a total transaction of $185,086.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 139,251 shares in the company, valued at $3,599,638.35. This represents a 4.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,811 shares of company stock valued at $874,014 in the last three months. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verint Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Verint Systems by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,265 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 3,585 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verint Systems during the third quarter worth about $311,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Verint Systems by 7.2% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 58,880 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,491,000 after buying an additional 3,938 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verint Systems by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,500,087 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,004,000 after buying an additional 4,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN acquired a new position in shares of Verint Systems during the third quarter worth about $5,083,000. 94.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.