Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in Vertex, Inc. by 62.1%, now owning 10,412 shares worth approximately $365,000 after selling 17,026 shares.
• Insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of Vertex stock for a total of $115.3 million, which represents a 99.74% decrease in his position.
• Vertex has received mixed ratings from analysts, with target prices ranging from $40.00 to $50.00 as various firms weigh in on the stock's performance.

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 62.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,412 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,026 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Vertex were worth $365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Vertex during the 1st quarter worth $4,039,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $552,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 38.5% during the 1st quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 720,073 shares of the company's stock worth $25,616,000 after acquiring an additional 200,284 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,399,000. Finally, Summit Creek Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,308,000. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 157,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.93, for a total value of $5,672,412.82. Following the transaction, the insider owned 196,841 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,072,497.13. This represents a 44.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.45, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,405,000 shares of company stock worth $130,136,108 in the last three months. Insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VERX has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 target price (down previously from $61.00) on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Vertex from $50.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Vertex Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ VERX traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $25.49. 327,258 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,337,922. Vertex, Inc. has a one year low of $24.45 and a one 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 stock has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -77.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.26.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate 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.