Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Boosts Stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 233.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 851,127 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 596,077 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.55% of Vertex worth $45,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quantessence Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $645,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Vertex by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,734 shares of the company's stock worth $199,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertex during the fourth quarter valued at $61,825,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Vertex by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 33,275 shares of the company's stock worth $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EAM Global Investors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,939,000. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VERX traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $39.30. The stock had a trading volume of 159,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,007,360. Vertex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.04 and a 12-month high of $60.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.31. The stock has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 218.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the company's 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

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.