Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys New Stake in Versant Corporation $VSNT

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System purchased a new position in shares of Versant Corporation (NASDAQ:VSNT) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 28,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,052,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Versant during the fourth quarter worth about $24,134,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Versant in the 4th quarter valued at about $795,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Versant in the 4th quarter valued at about $646,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Versant in the 4th quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Barclays PLC purchased a new position in Versant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $112,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VSNT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Versant from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Versant in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Versant from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Versant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Versant in a report on Monday, May 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.40.

Versant Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSNT opened at $36.35 on Friday. Versant Corporation has a one year low of $27.17 and a one year high of $59.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion and a PE ratio of 18.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Versant (NASDAQ:VSNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that Versant Corporation will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Versant Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. Versant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.38%.

Versant Company Profile

Versant Corporation is a provider of data management software. The Company designs, develops, markets and supports database management system products that companies use to solve data management and data integration issues. It also provides related product support, training and consulting services to assist users of the Company’s products in developing and deploying software applications based on its products. The Company’s Versant Object Database product is used primarily by enterprises, which have data management requirements, such as technology providers, telecommunications carriers, Government defense agencies, defense contractors, healthcare companies and companies in the financial services and transportation industries.