Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Purchases 108,314 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,337,758 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 108,314 shares during the quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.86% of Vertex worth $71,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth $79,000. 70.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

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

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of VERX stock traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $39.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 285,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,000,805. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $36.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.36. The company has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 220.54, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80. Vertex, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.04 and a fifty-two week high of $60.71. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.90 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on VERX shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson decreased their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Vertex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.73.

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.