Handelsbanken Fonder AB Grows Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 46.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,300 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,800 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Vertex were worth $641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Vertex during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Vertex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $79,000. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:VERX opened at $36.92 on Monday. 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 1-year low of $30.26 and a 1-year high of $60.71. The company has a 50-day moving average of $38.89 and a 200 day moving average of $44.44. The firm has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a PE ratio of 205.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.75.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $177.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total value of $1,555,343.44. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 132 shares in the company, valued at $4,749.36. The trade was a 99.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.45, for a total transaction of $115,350,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $303,562.75. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,158,398 shares of company stock worth $121,248,979 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 43.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Vertex in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.73.

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.