Teacher Retirement System of Texas Makes New $339,000 Investment in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,680 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of VERX. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd raised its holdings in Vertex by 97.9% during the first quarter. PICTET BANK & TRUST Ltd now owns 9,100 shares of the company's stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 4,502 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex in the first quarter valued at $8,924,000. Westwind Capital increased its position in shares of Vertex by 79.0% in the first quarter. Westwind Capital now owns 334,502 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,711,000 after buying an additional 147,650 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Vertex by 3,751.0% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 7,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex by 23.8% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 694,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,323,000 after buying an additional 133,541 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In other news, CEO David Destefano sold 109,415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.70, for a total value of $4,124,945.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,066,587 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,210,329.90. This represents a 9.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ryan J. Leib sold 5,755 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $218,690.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,520,170 shares of company stock worth $134,479,744 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 43.25% of the company's stock.

Vertex Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of VERX traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $35.10. 500,560 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,059,358. The company has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of -121.03, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.71. The firm's 50 day moving average is $37.15 and its 200-day moving average is $41.24. Vertex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.26 and a 52 week high of $60.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $177.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Vertex from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler started coverage on Vertex in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Vertex in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $49.33.

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.