Gagnon Advisors LLC Has $5.67 Million Stock Position in 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 boosted its holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 40.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 161,813 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 46,219 shares during the quarter. Vertex accounts for 4.0% of Gagnon Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Gagnon Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of Vertex worth $5,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,527,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $188,198,000 after purchasing an additional 53,829 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its position 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 period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,868,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $153,031,000 after purchasing an additional 580,664 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex by 42.1% during the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 2,043,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,533,000 after purchasing an additional 605,617 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Vertex by 342.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,513,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,754,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,576 shares during the period. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VERX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson cut Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Vertex in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday. Five 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ryan J. Leib sold 5,755 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was 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 at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 109,415 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.70, for a total value of $4,124,945.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,066,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,210,329.90. The trade was a 9.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,520,170 shares of company stock worth $134,479,744. 43.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Stock Down 6.6%

Shares of Vertex stock traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $25.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,059,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,524,437. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.79, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Vertex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.11 and a 1-year high of $60.71.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $184.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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.