Banta Asset Management of Newport Beach has boosted its leading stake in Veritone while praising the Steelberg brothers.
“I don’t think Wall Street totally understands what the company is doing,” asset firm partner Stephen Banta told the Business Journal.
“We think they’re going to catch a lot of people by surprise.”
Banta Asset is a wealth management firm started by David Banta and his three sons: Stephen, Mark, and Michael.
The firm reported $96 million in assets as of Nov. 30, according to an SEC filing.
Banta Asset notified the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month that it had raised its share of Veritone from 5.6%. to 6.8%. As of last week, that stake was worth $11.3 million.
The stock price has slid from about $24 a year ago to below $4 last December. It’s improved to about $8.15 a share with a market cap around $155 million.
Despite the price fall, Banta said, “We’ve just been seeing improved fundamentals.”
“There’s a lot of different uses for their platform,” Banta said. “Chad Steelberg is, in our opinion, a thought leader in the space.”
— Kevin Costelloe
