Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,690,045 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 253,263 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 1.08% of Vertex worth $69,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Vertex by 2.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,287,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,102,000 after buying an additional 54,985 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 40.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,863,000 after acquiring an additional 414,945 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 36.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,361,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,447,000 after purchasing an additional 363,595 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Vertex by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,275,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,121,000 after purchasing an additional 37,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its stake in Vertex by 551.9% during the second quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 949,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,231,000 after purchasing an additional 803,881 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In other news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total value of $134,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,938.35. The trade was a 13.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 3,020 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.08, for a total transaction of $166,341.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,007,563 shares of company stock worth $235,917,246. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on VERX. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Vertex from $41.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.10.

Vertex Stock Performance

VERX stock opened at $53.30 on Tuesday. Vertex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.31 and a twelve month high of $57.74. The firm has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 296.11, a PEG ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.74. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.70 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. Analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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.