Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Invests $8.74 Million in Vertex, Inc. $VERX

Key Points

• Osterweis Capital Management Inc. invested approximately $8.74 million in Vertex, Inc. by acquiring 249,760 shares, amounting to a 0.16% ownership of the company.
• Vertex recently reported earnings with an EPS of $0.15, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.14, and a revenue of $184.56 million, which is a 14.6% increase compared to the same quarter last year.
• Several analysts have revised their price targets for Vertex, with Needham & Company lowering it from $60 to $40 while other firms provided varying ratings targeting between $34 and $50 per share.

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 249,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,744,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. owned 0.16% of Vertex at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 25.7% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,933 shares of the company's stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,645 shares of the company's stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 16.1% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,669 shares of the company's stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 7.3% in the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 10,205 shares of the company's stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Vertex in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Vertex Trading Up 1.9%

NASDAQ:VERX opened at $24.33 on Friday. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $29.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.52. Vertex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.13 and a 52 week high of $60.71. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of -73.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.67.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $184.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. Vertex's quarterly revenue was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VERX. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America cut their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. JMP Securities set a $50.00 price target on Vertex and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $43.00 price target on Vertex and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 157,874 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.93, for a total transaction of $5,672,412.82. Following the transaction, the insider owned 196,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,072,497.13. This trade represents a 44.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 405,000 shares of company stock worth $14,786,108. Company 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.

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