Bessemer Group Inc. Acquires 133,541 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 23.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 694,702 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 133,541 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned about 0.44% of Vertex worth $24,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Vertex by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,858,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $365,927,000 after purchasing an additional 137,666 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,527,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $188,198,000 after acquiring an additional 53,829 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,947,740 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,200,000 after acquiring an additional 686,145 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Vertex by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,868,438 shares of the company's stock worth $153,031,000 after buying an additional 580,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,129,099 shares of the company's stock worth $113,587,000 after buying an additional 439,054 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Vertex Price Performance

NASDAQ:VERX traded up $0.84 on Monday, reaching $35.33. 2,759,831 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,037,136. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.91. Vertex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.26 and a 12 month high of $60.71. The firm has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of -121.82, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. Vertex had a positive return on equity of 28.14% and a negative net margin of 6.45%. The company had revenue of $177.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VERX. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. 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 lowered 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.50.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In related news, insider Jeffrey Westphal sold 3,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,895 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $303,562.75. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 109,415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.70, for a total transaction of $4,124,945.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,066,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,210,329.90. The trade was a 9.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,520,170 shares of company stock worth $134,479,744 over the last ninety days. 43.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.