Granahan Investment Management LLC Has $19.35 Million Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Granahan Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 34.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 362,598 shares of the company's stock after selling 186,815 shares during the quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Vertex worth $19,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in Vertex in the 4th quarter valued at $79,000. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 132 shares in the company, valued at $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VERX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. 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. Finally, 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. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.73.

Vertex Trading Down 2.4%

NASDAQ VERX traded down $0.92 on Monday, reaching $37.41. The company had a trading volume of 1,304,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,017,911. The stock's 50 day moving average is $36.87 and its 200-day moving average is $46.13. The stock has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 207.83, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Vertex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.26 and a 52 week high of $60.71.

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