Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $1.91 Million in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 35,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,909,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VERX. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Vertex during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Vertex during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Vertex during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex during the fourth quarter worth $79,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Vertex by 7,675.0% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company's stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Trading Up 0.6%

Vertex stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,322,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,024,065. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 220.83, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. Vertex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.26 and a 12 month high of $60.71. 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 (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $177.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $176.99 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex news, CEO David Destefano sold 109,415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,066,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,210,329.90. This trade represents a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the firm's 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 approximately $4,749.36. This trade represents a 99.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 158,398 shares of company stock worth $5,898,979. Insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VERX. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Vertex in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Vertex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.73.

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.