Aquatic Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX - Free Report) by 60.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,714 shares of the company's stock after selling 37,186 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings in Vertex were worth $1,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,858,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $365,927,000 after purchasing an additional 137,666 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its position in Vertex by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,527,604 shares of the company's stock worth $188,198,000 after acquiring an additional 53,829 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,868,438 shares of the company's stock worth $153,031,000 after purchasing an additional 580,664 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,129,099 shares of the company's stock worth $113,587,000 after purchasing an additional 439,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Vertex by 342.5% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company's stock.

Vertex Trading Down 0.5 %

VERX stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $39.01. 203,242 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,007,533. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a PE ratio of 216.69, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.78. Vertex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.04 and a 1-year high of $60.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). Vertex had a return on equity of 24.92% and a net margin of 4.73%. The firm had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.90 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex

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 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on VERX shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut Vertex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $58.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price 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. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.