Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,275,283 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 37,592 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 0.82% of Vertex worth $49,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Vertex by 406.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,386 shares of the company's stock worth $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 27,602 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the second quarter worth about $22,173,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex in the third quarter worth approximately $840,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Vertex by 5.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 432,068 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,639,000 after purchasing an additional 23,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Vertex by 10.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 248,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,940,000 after purchasing an additional 22,514 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Vertex Trading Up 0.6 %

VERX stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $53.51. The company had a trading volume of 218,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 793,749. The stock has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 297.28, a PEG ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77. Vertex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.31 and a 52 week high of $57.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $49.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.57.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,225,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total value of $48,289,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $311,220.90. This trade represents a 99.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 159,107 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.61, for a total transaction of $7,893,298.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 332,290 shares in the company, valued at $16,484,906.90. The trade was a 32.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,007,563 shares of company stock valued at $235,917,246. Insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VERX has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vertex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.70.

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.