Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Sells 18,695 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,261,595 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,695 shares during the period. Vertex makes up about 1.6% of Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex were worth $120,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VERX. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Vertex by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Vertex by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex by 6.1% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Vertex by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Stock Performance

NASDAQ VERX opened at $57.75 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $54.65 and its 200-day moving average is $45.34. The firm has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 320.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 0.78. Vertex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.17 and a 12-month high of $60.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $170.40 million for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VERX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Vertex from $50.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Vertex in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Vertex from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex

In other news, major shareholder Jeffrey Westphal sold 2,485,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 owns 7,895 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $386,065.50. The trade was a 99.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Item Second Irr. Trust Fbo Kyl sold 53,843 shares of Vertex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.48, for a total transaction of $3,041,052.64. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,632,062 shares of company stock valued at $182,311,362 in the last quarter. 44.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Profile

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.