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

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 61.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 34,380 shares of the company's stock worth $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 13,135 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Vertex during the 4th quarter worth $595,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 33,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,775,000 after buying an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,734 shares of the company's stock worth $199,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Vertex by 233.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 851,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,409,000 after purchasing an additional 596,077 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX traded up $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.08. The company had a trading volume of 219,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,325,854. The firm's fifty day moving average is $32.09 and its 200 day moving average is $36.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of -75.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.70. Vertex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.45 and a twelve month 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.

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 the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $184.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. 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. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $43.00 price objective on shares of Vertex and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-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 given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.69.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In related news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 14,425 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.24, for a total transaction of $508,337.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 173,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,099,127.76. This trade represents a 7.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.45, for a total value of $115,350,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $303,562.75. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,405,000 shares of company stock valued at $130,136,108 in the last quarter. 43.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.