Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Invests $441,000 in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex by 126.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex in the fourth quarter worth about $79,000. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VERX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Vertex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research note on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Five investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.98, for a total value of $1,555,343.44. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total transaction of $3,041,052.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,428,435.36. This trade represents a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 44.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Stock Performance

VERX opened at $35.71 on Friday. Vertex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.22 and a 52-week high of $60.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 198.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $46.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.38.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. The company had revenue of $178.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.90 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal 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.