Whittier Trust Co. Purchases 87,304 Shares of Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX)

Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in Vertex, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERX) by 54.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 248,095 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 87,304 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. owned about 0.16% of Vertex worth $13,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VERX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex during the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. Institutional investors own 70.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VERX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Vertex from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex from $62.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Vertex in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.82.

Vertex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VERX opened at $36.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $46.66 and a 200-day moving average of $46.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 200.89, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.87. 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 12 month low of $27.22 and a 12 month high of $60.71.

Vertex (NASDAQ:VERX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $178.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.90 million. Vertex had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 24.92%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vertex, Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 44.58% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Company 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.