Federated Hermes Inc. Trims Stock Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in Vertex, Inc. by 16.9%, selling 116,979 shares, and now owns about 573,978 shares valued at approximately $20 million.
• Vertex, Inc. reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.15, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $177.06 million, marking a 12.9% year-over-year increase.
• The stock is currently trading at $33.17, and analysts generally rate it as a "Moderate Buy", with an average price target of around $49.33.

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 16.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 573,978 shares of the company's stock after selling 116,979 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.36% of Vertex worth $20,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Vertex by 342.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,513,660 shares of the company's stock worth $80,754,000 after buying an additional 1,171,576 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,825,000. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 1st quarter valued at $27,399,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $103,200,000 after purchasing an additional 686,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings 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 valued at $45,409,000 after purchasing an additional 596,077 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of VERX traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,145,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 941,214. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $36.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.06. Vertex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.26 and a fifty-two week high of $60.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -111.38, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.70.

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

Insider Activity at Vertex

In other news, CAO Ryan J. Leib sold 5,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $218,690.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the insider owned 196,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,072,497.13. This trade represents a 44.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,520,170 shares of company stock valued at $134,479,744. Insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.