Axiom Investors LLC DE Grows Stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Axiom Investors LLC DE increased its holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 503,578 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 28,568 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned 0.32% of Vertex worth $26,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 126.2% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex in the 3rd quarter worth $448,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 432,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,639,000 after buying an additional 23,086 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,287,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,102,000 after buying an additional 54,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Vertex by 129.1% in the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,213,000 after acquiring an additional 17,743 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total transaction of $1,555,343.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749.36. This trade represents a 99.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,428,435.36. This represents a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 44.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX opened at $35.55 on Monday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $44.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.52. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 197.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. Vertex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.22 and a 12 month high of $60.71.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.03). Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The company had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.82.

About Vertex

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.