Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Invests $4.17 Million in Vertex, Inc. $VERX

Key Points

• Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP acquired 119,053 shares of Vertex, Inc. ($VERX) valued at approximately $4.17 million, increasing its stake to 0.08% of the company.
• Vertex reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations, while revenue grew by 14.6% year-over-year.
• Analysts are mixed on Vertex's outlook, with recent downgrades and price target reductions from major firms, leading to a consensus average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 119,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,168,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP owned approximately 0.08% of Vertex at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex by 63.0% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,429,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,054,000 after purchasing an additional 939,031 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Vertex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,399,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,947,740 shares of the company's stock worth $103,200,000 after purchasing an additional 686,145 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 42.1% during the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 2,043,205 shares of the company's stock worth $71,533,000 after purchasing an additional 605,617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 233.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 851,127 shares of the company's stock worth $45,409,000 after purchasing an additional 596,077 shares during the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In related news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 157,874 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.93, for a total transaction of $5,672,412.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 196,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,072,497.13. This trade represents a 44.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.45, for a total transaction of $115,350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $303,562.75. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,405,000 shares of company stock valued at $130,136,108 over the last ninety days. 43.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Stock Performance

Vertex stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.07. The company had a trading volume of 274,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,326,062. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Vertex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.45 and a 52 week high of $60.71. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.09 and a 200-day moving average of $36.33. The firm has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.96, a PEG ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.70.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $184.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.60 million. Vertex had a negative net margin of 7.09% and a positive return on equity of 27.16%. The business's revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VERX. DA Davidson lowered shares of Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JMP Securities set a $50.00 price target on shares of Vertex and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $43.00 price target on shares of Vertex and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.69.

Vertex Company Profile

Vertex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides enterprise tax technology solutions for retail trade, wholesale trade, and manufacturing industries in the United States and internationally. The company offers tax determination; compliance and reporting, including workflow management tools, role-based security, and event logging; tax data management; document management; analytics and insights; pre-built integration that includes mapping data fields, and business logic and configurations; industry-specific solutions; and technology specific solutions, such as chain flow accelerator and SAP-specific tools.