Next Century Growth Investors LLC Lowers Holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Next Century Growth Investors LLC reduced its stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 35.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 326,997 shares of the company’s stock after selling 177,194 shares during the period. Vertex makes up 1.3% of Next Century Growth Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Next Century Growth Investors LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Vertex worth $17,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Vertex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in Vertex in the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total value of $3,041,052.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at $69,428,435.36. This trade represents a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 44.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Stock Performance

VERX opened at $38.48 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 213.78, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80. Vertex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.22 and a 1-year high of $60.71.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.90 million. Equities analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VERX. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Vertex from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.82.

Vertex Company 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.