Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Key Points

• Vertex (VERX) reported earnings of $0.15 per share, surpassing expectations of $0.14 by $0.01, while revenue increased by 14.6% year-over-year to $184.56 million.
• Despite the positive earnings results, Vertex's share price fell by 6.6%, closing at $25.67, significantly below its 52-week high of $60.71.
• Insider transactions included the sale of 3,000,000 shares by Jeffrey Westphal, resulting in a 99.74% decrease in his ownership position.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $184.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share.

Vertex Stock Up 4.1%

VERX traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.15. 1,284,210 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,339,128. Vertex has a 1 year low of $24.45 and a 1 year 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of -78.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.04 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VERX. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson cut shares of Vertex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Vertex from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective (down previously from $61.00) on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.69.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 173,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,099,127.76. This represents a 7.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,405,000 shares of company stock valued at $130,136,108. 43.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Vertex by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 180,978 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,336,000 after buying an additional 48,181 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex by 25.7% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 81,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,869,000 after purchasing an additional 3,461 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex by 92.1% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 8,105 shares of the company's stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 3,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Vertex by 10,910.6% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 13,543 shares of the company's stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 13,420 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.