Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 17.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,690,045 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 253,263 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 1.08% of Vertex worth $69,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,287,774 shares of the company's stock worth $88,102,000 after purchasing an additional 54,985 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC raised its position in Vertex by 40.1% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,599 shares of the company's stock worth $55,863,000 after acquiring an additional 414,945 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,275,283 shares of the company's stock worth $49,121,000 after acquiring an additional 37,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Pictet & Cie SA grew its position in shares of Vertex by 551.9% during the 2nd quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 949,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,231,000 after acquiring an additional 803,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.10.

Vertex Price Performance

NASDAQ VERX traded up $0.16 on Tuesday, reaching $53.46. The company had a trading volume of 946,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 790,316. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 297.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77. Vertex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.31 and a 12 month high of $57.74. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $48.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.74.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $165.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 3,020 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.08, for a total value of $166,341.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total value of $134,525.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,938.35. This trade represents a 13.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,007,563 shares of company stock valued at $235,917,246 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

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.