Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) Shares Sold by Tensile Capital Management LP

Tensile Capital Management LP trimmed its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 12.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,053,550 shares of the company’s stock after selling 580,000 shares during the quarter. Vertex makes up 16.9% of Tensile Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Tensile Capital Management LP owned 2.61% of Vertex worth $156,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Vertex by 6.1% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex by 126.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Vertex by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 16,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 697 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. 59.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Vertex from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Vertex from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vertex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Vertex from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.30.

Vertex Stock Down 0.7 %

VERX stock opened at $55.99 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 $8.73 billion, a PE ratio of 311.06, a PEG ratio of 10.68 and a beta of 0.77. Vertex, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.31 and a 1-year high of $57.74. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.59.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 2,485,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.90, for a total value of $121,516,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $386,065.50. This represents a 99.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 3,020 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.08, for a total value of $166,341.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,202,949 shares of company stock valued at $192,797,340. 44.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.