UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Purchases 22,228 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 18.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 139,530 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,228 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.09% of Vertex worth $5,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VERX. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex by 129.1% in the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after acquiring an additional 17,743 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Vertex by 119,107.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 48,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,882,000 after acquiring an additional 48,834 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,287,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,102,000 after acquiring an additional 54,985 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the third quarter worth $840,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Vertex in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $697,000. 59.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VERX has been the subject of several research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $41.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David Destefano sold 159,107 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $7,893,298.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 332,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,484,906.90. The trade was a 32.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 3,020 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.08, for a total value of $166,341.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,216,295 shares of company stock valued at $193,533,105 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Trading Up 0.5 %

VERX stock opened at $54.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Vertex, Inc. has a one year low of $23.31 and a one year high of $57.74. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $47.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.25. The company has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a PE ratio of 305.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 0.77.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $165.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.06 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.