Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 35,777 Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

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

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,858,981 shares of the company's stock worth $365,927,000 after purchasing an additional 137,666 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 53,829 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Vertex by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,868,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $153,031,000 after buying an additional 580,664 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,129,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,587,000 after acquiring an additional 439,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Vertex by 342.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,513,660 shares of the company's stock worth $80,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171,576 shares during the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vertex

In other 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 transaction of $1,555,343.44. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ryan J. Leib sold 5,755 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 158,398 shares of company stock valued at $5,898,979. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $38.39. 102,281 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,016,461. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $37.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 213.19, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 12 month low of $30.26 and a 12 month 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 for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $177.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $176.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Vertex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.73.

Vertex Profile

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.