Vertex, Inc. $VERX Stock Holdings Increased by PDT Partners LLC

Key Points

• PDT Partners LLC increased its stake in Vertex, Inc. by 258.6%, acquiring 69,565 shares to own a total of 96,465 shares, valued at approximately $3.38 million.
• Vertex reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.15, exceeding estimates by $0.01, with revenue of $184.56 million, a 14.6% increase year-over-year.
• Multiple institutional investors, including T. Rowe Price and Fiera Capital Corp, have significantly increased their positions in Vertex, with institutional ownership now at 70.32%.

PDT Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 258.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 96,465 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 69,565 shares during the quarter. PDT Partners LLC owned 0.06% of Vertex worth $3,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VERX. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex by 63.0% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,429,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,054,000 after purchasing an additional 939,031 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,399,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,947,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,200,000 after buying an additional 686,145 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex by 42.1% during the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 2,043,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,533,000 after acquiring an additional 605,617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in Vertex by 46.9% during the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,511,846 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,128,000 after acquiring an additional 482,669 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In other news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 157,874 shares of Vertex 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 of the company's stock, valued at $7,072,497.13. The trade was a 44.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.45, for a total transaction of $115,350,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Vertex and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Vertex and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.69.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of VERX stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,848,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,343,856. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Vertex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.13 and a twelve month high of $60.71. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of -72.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.67.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $184.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $184.60 million. Vertex had a negative net margin of 7.09% and a positive return on equity of 27.16%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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.