Jennison Associates LLC Has $18.08 Million Stock Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 36.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 469,526 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 124,169 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.30% of Vertex worth $18,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in Vertex in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Vertex in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Amalgamated Bank acquired a new stake in Vertex during the 2nd quarter valued at $68,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Vertex by 46.1% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,099 shares of the company's stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. 59.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Price Performance

VERX traded up $0.39 on Friday, hitting $53.83. 772,135 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 989,127. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 299.06, a PEG ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Vertex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.31 and a 12 month high of $54.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.10.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The company had revenue of $170.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on VERX shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of 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 boosted their price objective 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 increased their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Vertex from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David Destefano sold 22,275 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.55, for a total transaction of $1,103,726.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 293,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,530,339.30. This represents a 7.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 8,485 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total value of $420,007.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 782,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,743,947. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,330,722 shares of company stock worth $197,009,011 in the last ninety days. 44.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.