LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Buys New Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. acquired 87,700 shares of Vertex, Inc. valued at approximately $3,070,000, representing about 0.06% of the company.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Vertex, with 70.32% of the company's stock now owned by such investors.
• Vertex has received mixed analyst ratings, with five hold ratings, eight buy ratings, and one strong buy rating, highlighting a current average rating of "Moderate Buy."

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 87,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,070,000. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. owned 0.06% of Vertex as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Vertex by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,947,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,200,000 after acquiring an additional 686,145 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,868,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $153,031,000 after buying an additional 580,664 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex by 42.1% during the first 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 period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Vertex by 342.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,513,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,754,000 after buying an additional 1,171,576 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,490,385 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,513,000 after buying an additional 423,007 shares during the period. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VERX traded down $0.89 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $25.61. 1,323,362 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,713,877. The company has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -77.60, a PEG ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.70. The business's fifty day moving average price is $34.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Vertex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.45 and a 12-month high of $60.71.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In other Vertex 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $303,562.75. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 14,425 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.24, for a total value of $508,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 173,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,099,127.76. The trade was a 7.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,405,000 shares of company stock valued at $130,136,108. 43.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VERX. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. 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. DA Davidson cut Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.69.

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.