Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Shares Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 269.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 34,378 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,072 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Vertex were worth $1,239,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Amalgamated Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the second quarter worth about $68,000. Finally, Sandia Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex in the first quarter worth about $159,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ VERX opened at $40.35 on Friday. Vertex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.92 and a 12-month high of $42.38. The stock has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a PE ratio of 336.25, a P/E/G ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.29 and a 200 day moving average of $34.86.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. Vertex had a net margin of 3.20% and a return on equity of 22.32%. The company had revenue of $161.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. Vertex’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VERX. JMP Securities increased their price target on Vertex from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Vertex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Baird R W raised shares of Vertex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Vertex from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Four investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Vertex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.30.

Insider Activity at Vertex

In related news, Director John Richard Stamm sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.95, for a total transaction of $575,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $777,778.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Vertex news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.81, for a total value of $56,715,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,054,641 shares in the company, valued at $39,875,976.21. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Richard Stamm sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.95, for a total transaction of $575,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,635 shares in the company, valued at $777,778.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,026,727 shares of company stock valued at $116,588,340. Corporate 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.