Vertex, Inc. $VERX Shares Bought by Comerica Bank

Key Points

• Comerica Bank increased its stake in Vertex, Inc. by 16.2% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 31,528 shares for a total of 225,865 shares, valued at approximately $7.9 million.
• Insider activity saw significant share sales, including 3 million shares sold by Jeffrey Westphal, representing a 99.74% decrease in his position, highlighting substantial insider selling in a short time.
• Vertex's quarterly earnings reported a slight EPS beat at $0.15 against an estimated $0.14, with a revenue increase of 14.6% year-over-year, despite a negative net margin.

Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 16.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 225,865 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,528 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned approximately 0.14% of Vertex worth $7,908,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in Vertex in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 88.1% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 7,675.0% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 2,456 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 1st quarter worth $97,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Vertex by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,734 shares of the company's stock worth $199,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares during the period. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Stock Down 3.3%

VERX traded down $0.84 on Tuesday, reaching $24.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,324,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,830,070. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.67. Vertex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.45 and a 1 year high of $60.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business's 50 day moving average is $31.12 and its 200 day moving average is $35.47.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $184.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.60 million. Vertex had a positive return on equity of 27.16% and a negative net margin of 7.09%.Vertex's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In other Vertex news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 7,895 shares in the company, valued at $303,562.75. This represents a 99.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 14,425 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.24, for a total transaction of $508,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 173,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,099,127.76. This trade represents a 7.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,405,000 shares of company stock worth $130,136,108 over the last ninety days. 43.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VERX has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. DA Davidson cut Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $43.00 price target on shares of Vertex and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. One 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.69.

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.