TimesSquare Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 40.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 992,657 shares of the company's stock after selling 662,743 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.64% of Vertex worth $52,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Vertex by 126.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Vertex by 191.1% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in Vertex by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Vertex by 344.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,529 shares of the company's stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VERX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.36.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of VERX stock traded down $1.23 on Friday, reaching $44.21. The stock had a trading volume of 637,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 926,573. The stock has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 245.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.78. Vertex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.47 and a 1 year high of $60.71. 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 50 day simple moving average of $53.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.60.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In related news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 575,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total transaction of $30,480,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $418,513.95. The trade was a 98.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total value of $3,041,052.64. Following the transaction, the insider now 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. Insiders have sold a total of 887,084 shares of company stock worth $47,736,965 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

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.