Gagnon Advisors LLC Purchases 46,219 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Key Points

• Gagnon Advisors LLC has increased its stake in Vertex, Inc. by 40.0%, now owning 161,813 shares which accounts for 4.0% of its holdings.
• Insiders sold a total of 3,520,170 shares of Vertex stock valued at approximately $134.5 million in the past ninety days, with CEO David Destefano selling a significant portion.
• Vertex reported $184.56 million in revenue for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $0.15, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.14.

Gagnon Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 40.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,813 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 46,219 shares during the quarter. Vertex makes up about 4.0% of Gagnon Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Gagnon Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of Vertex worth $5,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 54,115 shares of the company's stock worth $2,887,000 after purchasing an additional 11,966 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 3,751.0% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 7,877 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex by 25.4% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 224,762 shares of the company's stock worth $7,869,000 after purchasing an additional 45,494 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the first quarter worth $8,203,000. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its position in Vertex by 42.1% during the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 2,043,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,533,000 after buying an additional 605,617 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 157,874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $7,072,497.13. This trade represents a 44.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,895 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders have sold 3,405,000 shares of company stock worth $130,136,108 in the last quarter. 43.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on VERX. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. DA Davidson downgraded Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Vertex in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Five research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of VERX stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $25.25. 1,299,934 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,332,810. Vertex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.45 and a 52-week high of $60.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.66.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.