Empowered Funds LLC Purchases New Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 63,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,363,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in Vertex by 2.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,287,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,102,000 after acquiring an additional 54,985 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Vertex by 17.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,690,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,444,000 after purchasing an additional 253,263 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Vertex by 40.1% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,863,000 after purchasing an additional 414,945 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Vertex by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,275,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,121,000 after purchasing an additional 37,592 shares during the period. 70.32% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total transaction of $134,525.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,938.35. This represents a 13.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David Destefano sold 22,275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.55, for a total transaction of $1,103,726.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 293,246 shares in the company, valued at $14,530,339.30. This trade represents a 7.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 952,825 shares of company stock worth $51,112,003. 44.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.36.

Vertex Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of VERX opened at $50.54 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $54.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.28. Vertex, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.17 and a twelve month high of $60.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 280.78, a PEG ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.78.

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.