Herald Investment Management Ltd Sells 10,000 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Key Points

• Herald Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in Vertex, Inc. by 8.3% during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 110,000 shares valued at approximately $3.85 million.
• Several large investors, including Neuberger Berman Group and FMR LLC, have increased their stakes in Vertex, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Vertex reported a quarterly earnings increase with an EPS of $0.15, surpassing estimates, and the company has shown a 14.6% year-over-year revenue growth.

Herald Investment Management Ltd lowered its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Herald Investment Management Ltd owned about 0.07% of Vertex worth $3,847,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VERX. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Vertex in the first quarter worth $28,000. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 88.1% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,024 shares of the company's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Vertex in the first quarter worth $97,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 7,675.0% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company's stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Vertex in the first quarter worth $133,000. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider directly owned 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $303,562.75. This represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 109,415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.70, for a total value of $4,124,945.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,066,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,210,329.90. The trade was a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,520,170 shares of company stock valued at $134,479,744. Corporate insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on VERX shares. JMP Securities set a $50.00 price target on Vertex and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America cut their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Vertex from $50.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Vertex in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Vertex Trading Down 6.6%

VERX stock traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $25.67. 3,059,777 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,524,437. Vertex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.11 and a 52-week high of $60.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $35.35 and a 200-day moving average of $39.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -77.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.70.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 positive return on equity of 27.16% and a negative net margin of 7.09%. The business had revenue of $184.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.