Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Buys New Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 162,947 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,693,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. owned approximately 0.10% of Vertex at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VERX. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex by 11.4% in the 4th 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 lifted its holdings in Vertex by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 17,291 shares of the company's stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westover Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Vertex by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC now owns 55,427 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,957,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Stock Up 2.6 %

VERX stock traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.09. The company had a trading volume of 887,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,035,205. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.35. 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 company has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 217.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80. Vertex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.22 and a fifty-two week high of $60.71.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.90 million. Analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 that occurred 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 sale, the general counsel now owns 132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749.36. The trade was a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 shares were sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total transaction of $3,041,052.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at $69,428,435.36. This trade represents 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VERX shares. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Vertex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.33.

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.