Swiss National Bank Grows Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 115,700 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,900 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.07% of Vertex worth $6,173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VERX. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Vertex by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 14,959 shares of the company's stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,792,000. AGF Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,421,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Vertex by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,551 shares of the company's stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 5,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 96.4% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,893 shares of the company's stock worth $474,000 after buying an additional 4,364 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex stock traded up $0.20 on Thursday, hitting $35.86. The stock had a trading volume of 894,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 963,609. The stock has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 199.22, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Vertex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.22 and a 52-week high of $60.71. The company's 50 day moving average price is $45.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.44.

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Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.90 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,428,435.36. This trade represents a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total transaction of $1,555,343.44. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 132 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70 % 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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on VERX shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Vertex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Five 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.82.

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.