Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Buys New Holdings 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 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund 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.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Vertex in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 88.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 7,675.0% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Vertex in the first quarter valued at about $97,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on VERX. Citigroup upgraded Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $43.00 target price on shares of Vertex and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, June 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the company'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 transaction, the insider owned 7,895 shares in the company, valued at $303,562.75. This represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 157,874 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the insider owned 196,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,072,497.13. This trade represents a 44.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,405,000 shares of company stock worth $130,136,108. Corporate insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Vertex Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of VERX traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.85. 788,721 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,809,305. Vertex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.45 and a 1-year high of $60.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of -78.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $32.56 and a 200 day moving average of $36.63.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. Vertex had a negative net margin of 7.09% and a positive return on equity of 27.16%. The firm had revenue of $184.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

About Vertex

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.