T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Vertex, Inc. $VERX

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in Vertex, Inc. by 63.0%, owning approximately 1.54% of the company worth $85 million after adding almost 940,000 shares.
• Insider trading activity has seen a substantial sell-off, with insider Jeffrey Westphal selling 3 million shares for over $115 million, representing a 99.74% decrease in ownership.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on Vertex, with ratings ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Hold", and a consensus price target of $43.69.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 63.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,429,416 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 939,031 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 1.54% of Vertex worth $85,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in Vertex in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Vertex by 88.1% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,024 shares of the company's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the 1st quarter worth $97,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex by 7,675.0% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company's stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the 1st quarter worth $133,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Vertex Price Performance

VERX stock traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.85. The company had a trading volume of 788,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,809,305. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.63. Vertex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.45 and a 12-month high of $60.71. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -78.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.70.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. Vertex had a negative net margin of 7.09% and a positive return on equity of 27.16%. The firm had revenue of $184.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In other news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 14,425 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider directly owned 173,074 shares in the company, valued at $6,099,127.76. The trade was a 7.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider owned 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $303,562.75. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,405,000 shares of company stock worth $130,136,108. Insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VERX has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson cut shares of Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.69.

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.