Premier Fund Managers Ltd Purchases 200,284 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Key Points

• Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its stake in Vertex, Inc. by 38.5%, owning 720,073 shares valued at approximately $25.6 million by the end of the first quarter.
• CEO David Destefano sold 109,415 shares for over $4.1 million, marking a 9.3% decrease in his ownership of Vertex stock.
• Analysts have mixed sentiments on Vertex with a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target averaging $49.33.

Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 38.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 720,073 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 200,284 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd owned about 0.46% of Vertex worth $25,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VERX. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 342.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,513,660 shares of the company's stock worth $80,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,576 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertex during the fourth quarter valued at about $61,825,000. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new stake in Vertex during the first quarter valued at about $27,399,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Vertex by 30.3% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,947,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,200,000 after purchasing an additional 686,145 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Vertex by 233.7% during 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 period. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Ryan J. Leib sold 5,755 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $218,690.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 109,415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.70, for a total value of $4,124,945.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,066,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,210,329.90. This represents a 9.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,520,170 shares of company stock worth $134,479,744. Corporate insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on VERX. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Vertex in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. DA Davidson upgraded Vertex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Vertex in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Vertex from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.33.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.44. The stock had a trading volume of 693,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,021. The business's 50 day moving average price is $36.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Vertex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.26 and a 1 year high of $60.71. The company has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -111.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.71.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. Vertex had a positive return on equity of 28.14% and a negative net margin of 6.45%. The company had revenue of $177.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $176.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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.