Greycroft LP Makes New Investment in Vertex, Inc. $VERX

Key Points

• Greycroft LP has acquired a new stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ: VERX), purchasing 10,000 shares for about $350,000, now making up 0.4% of their portfolio.
• Insider selling has been significant, with one insider selling 3 million shares of Vertex stock, resulting in a 99.74% decrease in their ownership.
• Analysts are generally positive, with consensus ratings indicating a "Moderate Buy" on Vertex, alongside price targets set between $40.00 and $50.00 by various brokerages.

Greycroft LP purchased a new position in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $350,000. Vertex comprises approximately 0.4% of Greycroft LP's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Vertex by 30.3% in the first 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. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Vertex by 63.0% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,429,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,054,000 after purchasing an additional 939,031 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Vertex by 42.1% in the first 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. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Vertex by 32.2% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,531,939 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,633,000 after purchasing an additional 373,090 shares during the period. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in Vertex by 46.9% in the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,511,846 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,128,000 after purchasing an additional 482,669 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of VERX stock traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $25.82. 1,260,471 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,881,321. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $31.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.76. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of -78.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.70.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $184.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.60 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In related news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 157,874 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $7,072,497.13. The trade was a 44.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.45, for a total value of $115,350,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $303,562.75. This represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,405,000 shares of company stock valued at $130,136,108 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VERX shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. JMP Securities set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Vertex and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.