Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 1,100.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 572,245 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 524,572 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.37% of Vertex worth $30,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $327,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,363,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex by 406.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after buying an additional 27,602 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex in the third quarter worth approximately $840,000. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,135,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 13,346 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.13, for a total value of $735,764.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,344,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,136,288.02. This represents a 0.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 575,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total value of $30,480,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $418,513.95. This trade represents a 98.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 887,084 shares of company stock worth $47,736,965. 44.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of VERX stock opened at $44.21 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.52 and a 200 day moving average of $46.67. Vertex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.47 and a 52 week high of $60.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 245.61, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VERX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Vertex in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.36.

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.