Vertex, Inc. $VERX Shares Bought by Aperture Investors LLC

Key Points

• Aperture Investors LLC has increased its stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 1.8%, making it the firm's 9th largest position, with holdings worth approximately $22.55 million.
• Insider Jeffrey Westphal sold a significant amount of shares (3 million) at an average price of $38.45, marking a 99.74% decrease in his ownership of the stock.
• Brokerage firms have recently adjusted their ratings and price targets for Vertex, with various ratings including "strong-buy" from Citigroup and a downgrade from DA Davidson to "hold."

Aperture Investors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 644,215 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,517 shares during the quarter. Vertex comprises about 2.9% of Aperture Investors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Aperture Investors LLC owned about 0.41% of Vertex worth $22,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VERX. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 63.0% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,429,416 shares of the company's stock worth $85,054,000 after purchasing an additional 939,031 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Vertex in the 1st quarter worth $27,399,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,947,740 shares of the company's stock worth $103,200,000 after buying an additional 686,145 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex by 42.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 2,043,205 shares of the company's stock worth $71,533,000 after buying an additional 605,617 shares during the period. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in shares of Vertex by 46.9% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,511,846 shares of the company's stock worth $52,128,000 after buying an additional 482,669 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Vertex Stock Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:VERX traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.97. The stock had a trading volume of 639,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,322,020. The company has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.67. Vertex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.45 and a 1-year high of $60.71. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $31.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In other Vertex news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Ann sold 157,874 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.93, for a total value of $5,672,412.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 196,841 shares in the company, valued at $7,072,497.13. The trade was a 44.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, 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. Insiders sold 3,405,000 shares of company stock valued at $130,136,108 over the last quarter. Insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VERX shares. JMP Securities set a $50.00 target price on Vertex and gave the stock a "market outperform" 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. Bank of America cut their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $34.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. DA Davidson lowered Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $43.00 price objective on Vertex and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.69.

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.