Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Takes Position in Vertex, Inc. $VERX

Key Points

• Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. has acquired a new stake in Vertex, Inc., purchasing 20,000 shares valued at approximately $706,000 in the 2nd quarter of 2023.
• Vertex's stock saw positive quarterly earnings, reporting an EPS of $0.15, which beats analyst expectations and shows a 14.6% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Analyst ratings for Vertex include a mix of opinions, with one Strong Buy, nine Buy, five Hold, and one Sell, leading to an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $41.79.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $706,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VERX. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Vertex by 31.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex by 44.4% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,664 shares of the company's stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex by 25.7% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,933 shares of the company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Vertex by 88.1% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,024 shares of the company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Vertex during the first quarter worth $97,000. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. DA Davidson upgraded Vertex to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JMP Securities set a $50.00 price objective on Vertex and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on Vertex in a research note on Friday, September 26th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.79.

Vertex Stock Performance

VERX stock opened at $25.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -76.66, a PEG ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.63. Vertex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.13 and a 1 year high of $60.71. The stock's fifty day moving average is $25.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.46.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $184.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.60 million. Vertex had a positive return on equity of 27.16% and a negative net margin of 7.09%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Vertex Company 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.

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