Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Position Raised by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 28.4% during 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 54,115 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,966 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Vertex were worth $2,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,516 shares of the company's stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its position in Vertex by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,099 shares of the company's stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Vertex by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,678 shares of the company's stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Vertex by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,668 shares of the company's stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its position in Vertex by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 17,291 shares of the company's stock worth $922,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Vertex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.73.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In related news, CEO David Destefano sold 109,415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.70, for a total value of $4,124,945.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,066,587 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,210,329.90. This represents a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Ryan J. Leib sold 5,755 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $218,690.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 158,398 shares of company stock valued at $5,898,979. 44.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ VERX opened at $38.51 on Tuesday. Vertex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.26 and a 1-year 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. The company has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a PE ratio of 213.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $37.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.98.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.02. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The business had revenue of $177.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. Vertex's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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