KBC Group NV Increases Stock Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 46.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,099 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Vertex were worth $81,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 4.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,791,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,929,000 after purchasing an additional 235,407 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Vertex by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,863,000 after acquiring an additional 414,945 shares in the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its stake in Vertex by 551.9% in the second quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 949,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,231,000 after acquiring an additional 803,881 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Vertex by 8.1% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 782,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,217,000 after buying an additional 58,678 shares during the period. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 712,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,643,000 after acquiring an additional 85,237 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 158,900 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.27, for a total transaction of $5,922,203.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,430,100 shares in the company, valued at $53,299,827. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 2,485,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,330,722 shares of company stock valued at $197,009,011. Company insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Vertex from $47.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Vertex from $43.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.30.

Vertex Stock Performance

Vertex stock opened at $53.83 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 299.06, a PEG ratio of 9.61 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.94. Vertex, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.31 and a 52 week high of $54.50.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $170.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $165.70 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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.