Kennedy Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 171,048 shares of the company's stock after selling 34,832 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Vertex worth $9,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity at Vertex

In other news, 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 sale, the general counsel now directly owns 132 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,749.36. The trade was a 99.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 44.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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Vertex Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of VERX traded down $0.47 on Wednesday, hitting $39.26. 239,600 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,022,638. Vertex, Inc. has a one year low of $27.22 and a one year high of $60.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.40. The company has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a PE ratio of 218.11, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Vertex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Vertex from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $49.36.

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.