Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Cuts Position in Vertex, Inc. $VERX

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its stake in Vertex, Inc. by 63.2%, selling 642,775 shares and ending with 373,650 shares valued at approximately $13.1 million.
• Significant insider activity was noted, with insider Jeffrey Westphal selling 3 million shares for over $115 million, representing a 99.74% decrease in his holdings.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Vertex's stock, with price targets ranging from $34 to $50 and a consensus rating classified as "Moderate Buy."

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC trimmed its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 63.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 373,650 shares of the company's stock after selling 642,775 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.24% of Vertex worth $13,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Vertex in the first quarter worth $28,000. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,456 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Vertex in the first quarter worth about $97,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Price Performance

Vertex stock traded up $0.1910 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $25.4010. The company had a trading volume of 146,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,329,424. The company has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -76.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. Vertex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.45 and a fifty-two week high of $60.71.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $184.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.60 million. Vertex had a negative net margin of 7.09% and a positive return on equity of 27.16%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America reduced their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $43.00 target price on Vertex and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. DA Davidson cut Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup raised Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $50.00 price objective on Vertex and gave the stock 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 given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 7,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at $303,562.75. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 157,874 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,072,497.13. This trade represents a 44.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,405,000 shares of company stock valued at $130,136,108. 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.