Bullseye Asset Management LLC Acquires 9,289 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Bullseye Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,360 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,289 shares during the quarter. Vertex comprises approximately 1.9% of Bullseye Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Bullseye Asset Management LLC's holdings in Vertex were worth $4,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VERX. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Vertex by 342.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,513,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,754,000 after buying an additional 1,171,576 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $61,825,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 233.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 851,127 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,409,000 after purchasing an additional 596,077 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,868,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $153,031,000 after purchasing an additional 580,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 1,100.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 572,245 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,530,000 after purchasing an additional 524,572 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:VERX traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.78. 219,849 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,000,528. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 221.00, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80. Vertex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.04 and a 52 week high of $60.71. The firm's 50 day moving average is $36.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.32. 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 (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VERX. Raymond James reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Vertex in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Vertex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Vertex in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Four 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, Vertex currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.