Barclays PLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Barclays PLC lessened its stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 472,630 shares of the company’s stock after selling 109,643 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Vertex were worth $25,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,858,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,927,000 after buying an additional 137,666 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,527,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,198,000 after purchasing an additional 53,829 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,868,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,031,000 after purchasing an additional 580,664 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,129,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,587,000 after acquiring an additional 439,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,171,576 shares in the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Trading Up 0.8 %

VERX stock opened at $39.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 218.06, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.80. Vertex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.22 and a 52-week 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. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.35.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced 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). Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The firm had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.90 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Vertex from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Vertex from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total transaction of $1,555,343.44. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 132 shares in the company, valued at $4,749.36. This trade represents a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total value of $3,041,052.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,428,435.36. The trade was a 4.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.