Premier Fund Managers Ltd Has $27.60 Million Holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd decreased its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 519,789 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,986 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Vertex were worth $27,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In other news, 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 sale, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,428,435.36. This trade represents a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total transaction of $1,555,343.44. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 132 shares in the company, valued at $4,749.36. The trade was a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on VERX shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Vertex from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased 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. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.82.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of VERX stock opened at $35.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Vertex, Inc. has a one year low of $27.22 and a one year high of $60.71. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 199.22, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87.

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