Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,858,981 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 137,666 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 4.40% of Vertex worth $365,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex in the fourth quarter valued at about $327,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,363,000. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,135,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex by 1,100.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 572,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,530,000 after purchasing an additional 524,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $534,000. 70.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Stock Up 2.6 %

Vertex stock opened at $37.02 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 205.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. 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 fifty-two week low of $27.22 and a fifty-two week high of $60.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.45.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The firm had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.90 million. Research analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total transaction of $3,041,052.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,229,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,428,435.36. The trade was a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total value of $1,555,343.44. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 132 shares in the company, valued at $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VERX. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Five 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.82.

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.