Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group significantly reduced its stake in Vertex, Inc. by 77.4%, owning only 8,068 shares after selling 27,709 shares during the first quarter.
• Insider trading is prominent as significant sales occurred, including 3 million shares sold by insider Jeffrey Westphal, resulting in a 99.74% decrease in his ownership.
• Despite recent fluctuations, Vertex's revenue increased by 14.6% year-over-year, with an earnings per share of $0.15, surpassing estimates of $0.14.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 77.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,068 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,709 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Vertex were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Vertex in the first quarter valued at $28,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 948 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 7,675.0% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the first quarter valued at $97,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares during the period. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 157,874 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.93, for a total transaction of $5,672,412.82. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 196,841 shares in the company, valued at $7,072,497.13. This represents a 44.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,405,000 shares of company stock worth $130,136,108. 43.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VERX shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JMP Securities set a $50.00 target price on shares of Vertex and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price 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. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.69.

Vertex Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:VERX traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,319,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,339,881. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Vertex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.45 and a 1 year high of $60.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.05 and a 200-day moving average of $38.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of -76.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.70.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $184.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $184.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.15 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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.