Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment 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 first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 249,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,744,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.16% of Vertex at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Vertex in the first quarter worth $28,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Vertex by 88.1% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Vertex by 7,675.0% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the first quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VERX has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities set a $50.00 target price on shares of Vertex and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup raised Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Vertex in a report on Monday, June 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 14,425 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.24, for a total value of $508,337.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 173,074 shares in the company, valued at $6,099,127.76. The trade was a 7.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,767 shares of company stock valued at $836,367. 43.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of VERX stock traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $25.46. 1,107,917 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,350,111. 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $29.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.22. Vertex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.13 and a 12-month high of $60.71. The stock has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -77.36, a PEG ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.67.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. The company 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%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. On average, analysts expect 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.