Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Verint Systems (NASDAQ:VRNT) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Verint Systems from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Verint Systems from $36.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Verint Systems from $34.00 to $23.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Verint Systems from $40.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.33.

Verint Systems Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNT opened at $17.85 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.29. Verint Systems has a one year low of $17.64 and a one year high of $38.17. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.32.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verint Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRNT. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Verint Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $22,528,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Verint Systems by 491.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 764,498 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $20,985,000 after buying an additional 635,334 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Verint Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $14,653,000. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Verint Systems by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 1,717,703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $47,151,000 after acquiring an additional 486,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Verint Systems by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,263,502 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,683,000 after purchasing an additional 412,655 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.95% of the company’s stock.

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.