First Trust Advisors LP Sells 21,867 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

First Trust Advisors LP cut its position in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 236,034 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,867 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.15% of Vertex worth $12,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VERX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In related news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 132 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,749.36. This trade represents a 99.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

Vertex Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:VERX opened at $39.74 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.37. Vertex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.04 and a 12 month high of $60.71. The company has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 220.78, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The firm had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $176.90 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex 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.

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