35,308 Shares in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Bought by Sheets Smith Investment Management

Sheets Smith Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 35,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,884,000. Vertex comprises approximately 1.6% of Sheets Smith Investment Management's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 126.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at about $79,000. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VERX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. DA Davidson cut their price target on Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Vertex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $49.82.

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Vertex Price Performance

Vertex stock traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $35.55. 1,226,964 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 987,945. Vertex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.22 and a 12-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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $44.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.37. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 197.50, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In related news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 132 shares in the company, valued at $4,749.36. This trade represents a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,229,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,428,435.36. This trade represents a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

Vertex Company 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.