Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 391,601 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 707.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 446,951 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 391,601 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Vertex were worth $23,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VERX. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 5.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 432,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,639,000 after acquiring an additional 23,086 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Vertex by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,287,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,102,000 after purchasing an additional 54,985 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 129.1% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,213,000 after buying an additional 17,743 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Vertex by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 139,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,373,000 after acquiring an additional 22,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex during the 3rd quarter worth about $531,000. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total value of $3,041,052.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,428,435.36. The trade was a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the general counsel now owns 132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749.36. This trade represents a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VERX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Vertex from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. Five investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.82.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of Vertex stock opened at $35.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 199.11, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. Vertex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.22 and a twelve month high of $60.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.37.

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

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.