AlphaQuest LLC Acquires 4,364 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 96.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,893 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,364 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Vertex were worth $474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its stake in Vertex by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vertex by 6.1% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex by 126.2% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Vertex by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Stock Up 5.7 %

Shares of Vertex stock opened at $33.99 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 188.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $49.17 and its 200 day moving average is $46.68. Vertex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.22 and a twelve month 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. Research analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total value of $3,041,052.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,428,435.36. This trade represents a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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.