Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Cuts Position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P decreased its holdings in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,521,537 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,457 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Vertex were worth $81,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VERX. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its stake in Vertex by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 17,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. 70.32% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:VERX opened at $35.66 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.44. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.22 and a twelve month high of $60.71. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 198.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $176.90 million. Analysts anticipate that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VERX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Vertex from $64.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a research report on Monday, December 9th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Vertex from $62.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In related news, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total value of $3,041,052.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,229,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,428,435.36. The trade was a 4.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Bryan T.R. Rowland sold 43,228 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749.36. This represents a 99.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.