Traders Buy Large Volume of Verint Systems Call Options (NASDAQ:VRNT)

Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 2,712 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 523% compared to the average volume of 435 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRNT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Verint Systems from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Verint Systems in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Verint Systems from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Verint Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Verint Systems from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.67.

Verint Systems Stock Up 23.1 %

VRNT opened at $31.96 on Friday. Verint Systems has a one year low of $21.27 and a one year high of $38.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.87.

Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The technology company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). Verint Systems had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 6.78%. The firm had revenue of $210.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.81 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Verint Systems will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verint Systems

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its position in Verint Systems by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 124,470 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,008,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Verint Systems by 160.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 793 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Verint Systems by 3.7% during the third quarter. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH now owns 20,012 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verint Systems during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Verint Systems by 11.2% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,586 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares during the period. 94.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verint Systems Company Profile

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.