Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Position Lifted by Banco Santander S.A.

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in Vertex, Inc. by 50.9% during Q1, owning 350,000 shares valued at approximately $12.25 million.
• Insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3 million shares of Vertex, representing a 99.74% decrease in personal ownership, with total sales amounting to over $115 million in recent months.
• Vertex's stock is experiencing fluctuations, recently down 2.6%, with a market cap of $5.12 billion and a consensus price target set at $49.33 by analysts.

Banco Santander S.A. boosted its position in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 50.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 350,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 118,000 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. owned approximately 0.22% of Vertex worth $12,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 596.9% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 7,372 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex in the first quarter worth approximately $207,000. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 948 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 42.0% during the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 3,670 shares during the period. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex in the first quarter worth $4,039,000. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In related news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 157,874 shares of the 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 represents a 44.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,520,170 shares of company stock valued at $134,479,744. Company insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on VERX shares. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Vertex in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. DA Davidson raised Vertex to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler began coverage on Vertex in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Vertex from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.33.

Vertex Trading Down 20.9%

Shares of NASDAQ VERX traded down $6.92 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.15. 5,673,984 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,275,893. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -90.21, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.64. Vertex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.11 and a twelve month high of $60.71.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. Vertex had a negative net margin of 6.45% and a positive return on equity of 28.14%. The business had revenue of $177.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $176.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex 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.