Next Century Growth Investors LLC Sells 177,194 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Next Century Growth Investors LLC reduced its holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 35.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 326,997 shares of the company's stock after selling 177,194 shares during the quarter. Vertex comprises 1.3% of Next Century Growth Investors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Next Century Growth Investors LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Vertex worth $17,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity at Vertex

In related news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total value 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 approximately $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,428,435.36. The trade was a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Stock Performance

VERX traded up $0.39 during trading on Thursday, hitting $39.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 300,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,024,921. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $38.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.35. The firm has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 218.42, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80. Vertex, Inc. has a one year low of $27.22 and a one year 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.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.03). Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The company had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VERX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $48.91.

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.