Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Boosts Stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 510,267 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 89,700 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned approximately 0.33% of Vertex worth $27,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bullseye Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Vertex by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Bullseye Asset Management LLC now owns 76,360 shares of the company's stock worth $4,074,000 after acquiring an additional 9,289 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,016,425 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,226,000 after buying an additional 83,391 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 576.7% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 120,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,404,000 after buying an additional 102,300 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,337,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,369,000 after buying an additional 108,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,490,385 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,513,000 after buying an additional 423,007 shares during the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of VERX traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.03. 829,725 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,004,300. Vertex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.04 and a 1-year 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $36.58 and a 200-day moving average of $46.28. The stock has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 222.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on VERX. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Vertex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In other news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 owns 132 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 44.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Company 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.