Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 302,029 Shares of Vertex, Inc. $VERX

Brown Advisory Inc. lessened its stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,778,876 shares of the company’s stock after selling 302,029 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. owned approximately 1.74% of Vertex worth $55,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Vertex by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Vertex by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Vertex by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 83,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121 shares during the period. Summitry LLC grew its position in Vertex by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 9,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Vertex by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VERX shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Vertex from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $14.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Vertex from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.93.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex stock opened at $12.28 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -245.60 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $12.74 and a 200 day moving average of $15.40. Vertex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.59 and a fifty-two week high of $37.76.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $196.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.82 million. Vertex had a negative net margin of 0.84% and a positive return on equity of 26.04%. Vertex’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Vertex

Vertex Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: VERX) is a specialty refiner and marketer of transportation fuels and petrochemical feedstocks in the United States. The company collects and processes a variety of waste petroleum products, including used motor oil and industrial lubricants, which it converts into ultra-low-sulfur diesel, asphalt, and other refined products. By leveraging proprietary re-refining technologies and strategic feedstock sourcing, Vertex Energy aims to deliver cost-effective, lower-carbon fuel solutions to wholesale and retail customers across the country.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Vertex operates a network of refining and blending facilities in key regions, including the Central, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets.