Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Makes New $41.75 Million Investment in Versant Corporation $VSNT

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Versant Corporation (NASDAQ:VSNT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,127,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,747,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VSNT. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Versant during the first quarter worth approximately $26,331,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Versant during the 1st quarter worth $24,475,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Versant during the 4th quarter worth $24,134,000. California Public Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Versant in the 1st quarter valued at $10,733,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Versant in the 1st quarter valued at $10,562,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VSNT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Versant from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research upgraded Versant from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Arete Research upgraded Versant from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings raised Versant from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Versant in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.80.

Versant Trading Up 2.3%

NASDAQ VSNT opened at $36.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.74. The company has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion and a PE ratio of 18.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Versant Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.17 and a 12 month high of $59.00.

Versant (NASDAQ:VSNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter. Research analysts forecast that Versant Corporation will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Versant Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 1st. Versant’s dividend payout ratio is 75.38%.

About Versant

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.