Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Buys 373,090 Shares of Vertex, Inc. $VERX

Key Points

• Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Vertex, Inc. by 32.2%, now owning approximately 1.53 million shares valued at $53.6 million.
• Vertex recently received mixed analyst ratings, with one strong buy, eight buy ratings, and five hold ratings, alongside an average target price of $43.69.
• Insider trading activity has been notable, with over 3.4 million shares sold in the last 90 days, reflecting a significant decrease in ownership stakes by key insiders.

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 32.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,531,939 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 373,090 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 0.97% of Vertex worth $53,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Vertex by 63.0% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,429,416 shares of the company's stock worth $85,054,000 after acquiring an additional 939,031 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in Vertex in the 1st quarter worth $27,399,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 30.3% in the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,947,740 shares of the company's stock worth $103,200,000 after acquiring an additional 686,145 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 605,617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Vertex by 233.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 851,127 shares of the company's stock worth $45,409,000 after purchasing an additional 596,077 shares during the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Stock Performance

Vertex stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $25.34. The stock had a trading volume of 903,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,326,691. Vertex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.45 and a fifty-two week high of $60.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.05. The company has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a PE ratio of -76.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.70.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $184.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.60 million. Vertex had a negative net margin of 7.09% and a positive return on equity of 27.16%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. JMP Securities set a $50.00 price target on Vertex and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. DA Davidson downgraded Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the business's 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 directly owned 7,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $303,562.75. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. 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 14,425 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.24, for a total value of $508,337.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 173,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,099,127.76. This represents a 7.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,405,000 shares of company stock worth $130,136,108 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

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.