EAM Investors LLC Buys New Holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

EAM Investors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 93,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,975,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,361,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,447,000 after acquiring an additional 363,595 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Vertex by 5.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 582,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,424,000 after purchasing an additional 29,700 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,275,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,121,000 after purchasing an additional 37,592 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,690,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,444,000 after purchasing an additional 253,263 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 933,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,932,000 after buying an additional 211,896 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on VERX. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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 note on Thursday, March 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.36.

Vertex Price Performance

VERX opened at $39.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 220.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.40. Vertex, Inc. has a one year low of $27.22 and a one year high of $60.71.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In related news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the 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 transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 132 shares in the company, valued at $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $69,428,435.36. The trade was a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 44.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.