Westwind Capital Raises Stock Holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Westwind Capital boosted its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 186,852 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 413 shares during the quarter. Vertex comprises approximately 2.2% of Westwind Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Westwind Capital’s holdings in Vertex were worth $9,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in Vertex by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 933,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,932,000 after acquiring an additional 211,896 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,690,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,444,000 after purchasing an additional 253,263 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Vertex during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,354,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Vertex by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,275,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,121,000 after buying an additional 37,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Vertex by 5.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 582,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,424,000 after acquiring an additional 29,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VERX traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.00. 483,294 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 790,383. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 288.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $51.83 and a 200 day moving average of $42.71. Vertex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.31 and a 1 year high of $57.74.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $165.70 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The company’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In other Vertex news, insider Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Jac sold 49,114 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.31, for a total value of $2,028,899.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,067,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,112,966.12. This represents a 4.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total value of $134,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,938.35. This trade represents a 13.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,729,850 shares of company stock valued at $185,465,458. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VERX. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.36.

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.