Insider Selling: Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Major Shareholder Sells 2,485,000 Shares of Stock

Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 2,485,000 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total transaction of $121,516,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $386,065.50. The trade was a 99.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Jeffrey Westphal also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, October 3rd, Jeffrey Westphal sold 1,225,000 shares of Vertex stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.42, for a total transaction of $48,289,500.00.

Vertex Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ VERX opened at $49.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a PE ratio of 272.78, a PEG ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 0.67. Vertex, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.31 and a 12 month high of $52.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $41.46 and a 200-day moving average of $37.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $170.40 million during 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 for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on VERX. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Vertex from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.30.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex in the first quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Vertex by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 101,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,214,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Vertex by 4.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,791,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,929,000 after purchasing an additional 235,407 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex by 8.6% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 142,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,532,000 after purchasing an additional 11,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex by 8.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 248,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,900,000 after purchasing an additional 18,335 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.10% 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.