Strs Ohio Acquires New Shares in Vertex, Inc. $VERX

Key Points

• Strs Ohio invested approximately $690,000 in Vertex, Inc. by purchasing 19,700 shares during the first quarter, according to their 13F SEC filing.
• Several hedge funds have also increased their stakes in Vertex, with 70.32% of the stock currently held by institutional investors.
• Vertex's recent quarterly earnings topped estimates with an EPS of $0.15, and analysts have given the stock a consensus target price of $43.69.

Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 19,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

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

Vertex Stock Performance

Vertex stock traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $25.75. 761,785 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,364,047. Vertex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.13 and a 52 week high of $60.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -77.91, a P/E/G ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.67. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $28.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.07.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. DA Davidson downgraded Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a 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 for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $50.00 target price on Vertex and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 14,425 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.24, for a total transaction of $508,337.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 173,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,099,127.76. This represents a 7.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 43.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Vertex

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.