Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Has $120.66 Million Holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,261,595 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,695 shares during the period. Vertex accounts for about 1.6% of Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned about 1.45% of Vertex worth $120,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VERX. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $536,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Vertex by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,668 shares of the company's stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Vertex by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,516 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,099 shares of the company's stock worth $806,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 17,291 shares of the company's stock worth $922,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX traded down $0.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $57.91. The company had a trading volume of 813,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 801,874. The firm's fifty day moving average is $54.89 and its 200 day moving average is $45.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a PE ratio of 321.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 0.78. Vertex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.17 and a twelve month high of $60.71.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm had revenue of $170.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In other news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 2,485,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total transaction of $121,516,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $386,065.50. This represents a 99.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,605,417 shares of company stock valued at $180,941,809. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VERX. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.36.

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.